The Railroad Stories
by ThomasZoey3000
Summary: Inspired by the Railway Series and other fan-made works. Read the tales of the locomotives that escaped from scrap and went on to live new lives and provide service to an Island that never had railroads before 1956. BOOK 7 COMING SOON.
1. Book 1 Story 1-Salvation

Recently, I've been watching alot of Train DVDs featuring footage from the 1950's and even before then, and alot of the footage features steam locomotives from Canada and even America. Sadly, as many railfans know, many of those beautiful steam locomotives were scrapped and are now lost to history. We still have alot of steam engines around today and many of them are running, or soon to return to the rails as in the case of Union Pacific 4014. However, I felt sorry for the other engines that never escaped. One night though, as I was watching a DVD called 'Canadian Steam 1957', I came up with an idea for a series to be much like the Railway Series, which is the following series you've just clicked onto. :) Like the Railway Series, the engines will get to go to a new home and be given a second chance at life, or third chance (depending on which locomotive we're talking about). (Just note the location is not real.)

However, it won't be just my decision on which steam locomotives will appear in this series. You fellow readers can now have a chance to see one of your favourite scrapped steam engines appear in this series. If you know of any steam engine from Canadian, American, Mexican or any railroad that used knuckle couplers, then send a message to me with the class of the engine and a number. Don't worry about a name, as I will come up with one for the locomotive, but if you do have a name, then that's fine too. I will also need to know when the engine was built and when it was scrapped. The series will begin in 1956, so I say we have alot of time to bring those engines into this series.

For this beginning of the series, we have two different locomotives. CNR No 2578, she is a 2-8-0 N-4. CPR 2823 is a Streamlined 4-6-4 H1c Royal Hudson. There are four other Royal Hudsons left in Canada and America, and as far as I know, only one N-4; 2534.

 _ **The Railroad Stories**_

 _ **Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

 _ **Book 1: Salvation Engines**_

Greeting Readers,

 _We all know the stories of the many lucky engines in Britian that have been saved and given a new lease of life on railways that wishes to keep steam, but what of the steam locomotives from far off like America, Canada and even Mexico? Well recently, I learned of an Island not too far from Canada and on this Island is a railroad that runs with nothing but steam engines. To my surprise, engine classes I thought were lost forever are on this railroad and despite their origins, they have learned to work together as a family. They were more than eager to tell me their stories. The first two engines of the railroad in particular told me about the trails of their first days._

The Author

 **Tales Included:**

-Salvation

-Trail Run

-Rivals

-Equal Partners

 _ **Salvation**_

The end of the line was coming for the steam locomotives. As early as the 1940's, a new breed of locomotive known as the diesels were taking over. At first, they worked well alongside their steam counterparts, but as time went on, the diesels found more work as they needed less maintenance and never needed to be turned round like a steam engine.

The steam engines were moved around from place to place, and even given different jobs than what they were designed for. In the end though, the engines would face a future they never wanted, to rust away in dark, miserable scrap yard.

Canadian National No 2578, an engine with two front wheels and eight driving wheels was one of them. For years, the engine had served the Canadian National well, but now she was being reduced to a rusty mess in the scrap yards in Alberta. Other engines were there too, and many were in various states of repair. Some sadly had already been scrapped and their remains taken away to be melted down. 2578 had already lost two of her sisters; 2577 and 2579, and feared she would be next.

A scrapper came over with a torch, "should we cut up this one next?" he asked, pointing the torch to 2578.

"Why not," said the foreman, "it's just taking up space in our yards, and there's more of these useless things coming in. Have fun destorying it," he chuckled and walked away.

"Please don't," whimpered 2578, "I can still be a reliable locomotive."

"Not according to Canadian National you're not. Now be quiet, this will only take a couple of hours."

2578 shut her eyes, prepared to face her horrible end. The torch was lit and was about to cut into the right side cylinder, when suddenly, there came a shout.

"Get away from my locomotive you monster!"

The scrapper dropped the torch in surprise. It was then picked up by another man in a business suit, who shut it off.

"What's the big idea bud? I've been told to scrap this piece of junk."

The man stared at the scrapper firmly, "well there's been a change in plans you idiot. I have just bought this fine locomotive, and we're taking it out of your scrap yards."

"But you can't!" objected the scrapper.

"I can, and I have." He pulled out a piece of paper, which was a bill of sale. "Now unless you want to settle this matter in court, I suggest you take your stupid little torch and get out of here!"

The scrapper, disappointed, grabbed the torch and walked away.

"What a bunch of fools these poeple are, thinking diesel technology is better. Well it's not, diesels are breaking down everywhere, costing them even more money."

2578 looked down to the man, "excuse me Sir, but who are you? And why did you save me?" she asked nervously.

The man turned back to face the locomotive. He climbed onto the cowcatcher and looked up to her face, "well my dear Loco, my name is Robert Gagnon, and I'm the first manager of the new Freedom Railroad, and we need you to work on the line."

2578 sighed, "for how long?"

"Well, forever I hope."

2578 was confused by this, "forever? But what about diesels? They're replacing steam engines all over the place, 'it's the end of the line' they all say to us."

The man scoffed, "pah, that's complete garbage. There's nothing wrong with you steamers that a little repair and paint can't fix. Besides," he added, "I hate diesels, they're too loud, smelly and they don't look like they are living machines. The Freedom Railroad will run with only steam."

"Only steam?" The locomotive shut her eyes, and blinked several times to see if she was dreaming. She wasn't.

"Yes, only steam," said Robert. "And with you engines on our lines, we'll be able to provide service to all the towns and cities our line passes through, and we'll show the world what you can really do."

"It sounds wonderful, but where is this Freedom railroad? Is it on the other side of the border? I've heard many of our engines have gone over there to live out second careers."

Robert shook his head, "no, you're not going to America, many of their steam engines are being scrapped like the Canadian steamers. No, you will be transported by boat and lifted to our docks where you will be repaired and put to work."

Another man stepped forward at that moment, "is this one ours Robert?"

"Indeed she is Bryan," Robert nodded. "But before we move her, we better check to see what work we'll need to do."

The man known as Bryan nodded and went to work inspecting the engine. Robert turned back to 2578, "that man is our best mechanic; Bryan Mason is his name. If there's anything broken on you, he'll fix it in a jiff."

"Well that'll be good," smiled 2578.

Mr Mason checked 2578 over several times, and soon came up to speak with Robert, "they ran her quite a bit I can tell you. She's got alot of rust underneath, her firebox has got cracks in it and don't get me started on the connections between the tender and 2578."

"Can she be repaired though?" asked Robert.

Mr Mason nodded, "yup, she can be repaired. Once in our workshops, we'll give her all the repairs she needs."

"Good, glad to hear it. Now let's get some tow trucks out here and get her to the docks." Robert looked over his shoulder, "I don't want 2578 to stay here any longer, not with those lame brain idiots stalking the area."

"No worries Robert, I already phoned for tow trucks. They should be here real soon."

"Thanks Bryan." He then heard a rumbling sound, "missed breakfast again have you?" Mr Mason nodded with a nervous chuckle, "why don't you go get something to eat? I'll watch over our engine."

Mr Mason nodded and went off. Robert looked back to 2578, "you're the first of our engines, but you won't be the last one I can promise you that. I will tell you this though, we will be buying engines from all over the place, some from your rivals. Can I trust you to put your differences aside and give them a good welcome?"

"Yes Sir Mr Gagnon, I won't let you down."

"I'm very glad to hear that, and just call me Robert." A thought then came to him, "you know something, it'll be really hard for us to remember the numbers of all you engines. Maybe we should give you names, that could help."

"A name?"

"Yes, a name for an engine. I hear several engines in Britian have got names, and they're working hard everyday." Robert stepped down from the plow and thought it over. Finally, his face lit up, "I got it! From this moment onwards, we will call you Rebecca. Yes, Rebecca will do nicely."

"Rebecca is such a beautiful name, I love it. Thank you Robert."

They waited half an hour for Mr Mason to return. Several scrappers came over to try and scrap Rebecca, but Robert sent them on their way, shouting angerily at them, "if you don't get those stupid things out of here, I'll really give you idiots a scare you won't forget!"

Finally, their mode of transportation arrived. Two tow trucks and a crane appeared. Mr Mason stepped down from one of the cabs, "I got a crane here too since they jammed 2578 in here with the other engines."

"Smart thinking Bryan, oh and she's Rebecca now."

Mr Mason smirked, "already naming the engines huh?"

"Well I thought it would be best."

The crane went to work right away. It lifted the tender out of the siding first and onto the back of the first tow truck. As it was being tied down, the crane went to work lifting Rebecca out of the siding.

The foreman of the scrap yard walked over angerily, "you won't be able to save all the locomotives. Heck, you won't be able to save this sorry loser. Your railroad will be shut down, and we'll see this one again. She _will_ be cut up."

"Yeah sure, whatever you say dumb-dumb." Robert turned and watched the lifting operation.

"Easy does it!" called Mr Mason. It was hard on the crane, but in no time at all, and with no problems, Rebecca was placed gently onto the back of the tow truck and tied down.

"Will you be able to save any of these locomotives too?" Rebecca asked Robert.

"Not today Rebecca," he said with a sigh. But quietly, he looked over his shoulder and whispered, "but that's not to say we won't return and tick these guys off even more." He winked.

Rebecca giggled as the last of the chains were tied down.

"All set and ready to roll."

Mr Mason and Robert climbed into the tow trucks, and with several honks, they started away. Rebecca passed the other engines, who wished her safe travels. She was sorry to leave them behind, but she was glad to leave the scrap yards. The overhead sign for the front of the yards just missed the top of her funnel.

"Whew, that was close," she sighed.

They travelled along the road, heading to the nearest docks. They passed cars, trucks and buses along the way, and while not everyone was pleased to see a steam locomotive being moved, many were cheering.

"Another one has been saved," they shouted.

Rebecca smiled just hearing that, "At least some people still love us."

Soon they reached the docks and found a big ship waiting for them. Cranes lifted the tender on board first, then lifted Rebecca off her trailer. She had no idea what to expect from her new home, but one thing was for sure, there would be no more threats of being scrapped.


	2. Book 1 Story 2-Trail Run

_**Trail Run**_

It took a few days to go from Alberta to the docks of the Freedom Railroad, but finally the cargo ship arrived. A tall crane was already in position, and ready to lift the mighty steam locomotive out. Workers tied up Rebecca with strong cabins, and triple checked to make sure everything was secure. After all, the last thing they needed was for Rebecca to fall into the water, or worse, hit the dockside.

"She's all ready!" they called, "hoist her away!"

The crane responded and slowly but surely, Rebecca was lifted out of her spot and brought back into the daylight. It had been dark inside the boat, and when she came out, the light blinded her. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she found herself gasping at her surrondings. She was at one of the biggest dockyards she had ever seen in her entire life. It had plenty of tracks, buildings and of course, lots and lots of freight cars just waiting to be used.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing," she squeaked.

Robert and Mr Mason were on the dockside waiting for her to be lowered down. "If you think the dockyards are amazing, then just wait till you see all the towns along the route," said Robert, "as well as the breath taking countryside in between each town."

"I bet it'll be lovely." But it brought a thought to Rebecca's head, "but how come I've never heard of this Island before, and why am I the first locomotive here?"

"Well the towns along here never really needed a railroad, they always had horse and buggys, and in later times, cars, buses and trucks," explained Mr Mason. "But times are changing, and they're in need of a railroad, that's where we and the rest of the Freedom Railroad will come in."

Robert nodded, "we can take more passengers than a single bus can, and we can deliver more cargo than any truck can. We'll show them all of how useful the railroad can be."

Rebecca smiled at the thought of doing that.

"First things first though," said Mr Mason, "we need to get you into the workshops for repairs. Now, how are we going to do this?"

The men were so excited about getting Rebecca, they hadn't thought about how they were going to get her into the workshops. In the end, they called on a big semi truck, and used it to push her along the tracks. To make sure she wouldn't slide away, Rebecca was chained up to the back of the truck and it would apply it's brakes if needed.

They had no need to do that though as they got Rebecca to the workshops safe and sound.

"Whew, that was too much for me," groaned the semi truck. "I hope I never have to do that again."

"Oh don't worry, you won't need to, once Rebecca is up and running," said Mr Mason. He undid the chains, and sent the semi on it's way. Inside, he whistled to the other workers, "okay listen up everyone, as of now, we're no longer in the stages of getting ready to work, now we are going to work, and best of all, we're working on steam locomotives, not those new diesels."

"Good thing too," said one of the workers, "those rotten motor cans on wheels made me lose my job."

All the other workers mumbled in agreement.

"Well that won't be happening here," reassured Mr Mason, "You will have bright futures ahead of you. Just like our first engine; Rebecca. She has been chosen as the first engine, and was merely less than five minutes away from being cut up."

"Don't remind me," shuddered Rebecca.

"Now she's going to need alot of work, so ladies and gentlemen, let's get to it!"

"Sir yes Sir!" they all saluted like soliders. They picked up their tools and went straight to work.

The work took an entire month to complete. The rust underneath Rebecca was very bad, Mr Mason swore he was surrprised she hadn't fallen to pieces already, but they replaced all the rusty bits in a matter of days. The connection between Rebecca and her tender was too far gone to be repaired, so it was thrown away and they made a new connection that would last a long time. The firebox had many cracks on the outside, but there were far more on the inside. Thankfully, the biggest part; the boiler, didn't need alot of work to be done on it.

When the month's work was over, they gave her a steam test, to which she passed. Then they gave her a fresh coat of black paint with white lining. They even painted the symbol of her old railroad on her tender, but painted on a new name 'Freedom Railroad'. Her number boards were also given a fresh coat as well. Soon, Rebecca didn't look like a scrap engine. She looked better than when she first came out of the works that built her.

"Stunning, truely stunning," smiled Robert when he came by to inspect. "I am amazed by the beautiful work done here. Well done Bryan, you and your crew did good."

Rebecca was just beaming, "look at me, I look wonderful, and I feel really good too. If only those scrappers could see me now."

"Well they won't be seeing you ever again," Robert smiled. "However, there are people waiting to see you in the town of Shannon. Their stores are running low on food, clothes and other things, and we've been asked to bring in the biggest shipment they have ever seen. You up for a run?"

"Robert, I was made ready for running."

"Excellent, but first, let me introduce you to your crew." He waved and two women walked over towards Rebecca's front end. This surprised the steam engine, for as long as she could remember, she only had male crew members. This was a first for her. "Meet Wendy and Niki, they will be driving you from now on."

"Hello Rebecca, it's nice to meet you," smiled Wendy.

"Great name by the way Partner," smiled Niki.

"Well I'm very pleased to meet you both, and I'd be very happy to have you as my crew."

With the meet and greet over, it was time to work. Niki was engineer while Wendy was in charge of the fire.

Once the fire was lit, and Rebecca had a good head of steam, she was backed out of the workshop and over to the freight yards. Seventeen empty box cars were waiting for them.

"Oh finally, a locomotive!" they exclaimed, "and a proper one too. We're bored of sitting around here."

"How do you think we feel?" asked the tankers. "We're not going to be used today, we're just going to sit around, doing nothing. Again," they sighed.

Rebecca gently backed onto the box cars and was coupled up. Next, they collected a caboose and headed to the docks.

Two large cargo ships were already at the docks when Rebecca and her train arrived. The ships gave disapproving looks, "what is this? A steamer bringing in freight cars? I thought you useless things were going to be scrapped."

"Useless? I'll have you know I'm the first of the Freedom Railroad's fleet. I'm not going anywhere!"

"One day you will," said the second cargo ship. "Someone will take over your boss' position, and you'll become scrap in no time. Just you wait and see." And both ships laughed.

"I don't think so ya fools," shouted Niki angerily. "If anything, y'all end up in the breakers yard before Rebecca will get a new boiler."

The ships snorted and looked away angerily. Wendy leaned out the cab and spoke with Rebecca, "Don't pay any attention to those ships, they're just like those fools who refuse to keep the past alive. Sooner or later, they too will see common sense."

"Hopefully," Rebecca muttered.

The box cars were soon loaded up, and with a couple of blasts of the whistle, Rebecca set off for the town of Shannon. They weren't going alone though as Robert and Mr Mason would be following along on the road. The only problem was...

"We're not really going to use your 32 are we?"

"Of course we are, it's a good car," said Robert, "it'll keep pace with Rebecca, you'll see."

Mr Mason wasn't enterily sure, as Robert's car had failed on more than one occassion. Still, the men climbed into the car and chased after the freight train.

The words from the cargo ships were still in Rebecca's head as they left, but she soon forgot about them and started to enjoy the journey. It was much like travelling through the Canadian Prairies with plenty of farms and small town houses near or far from the tracks. One little girl ran up to the fence and waved as they went by.

"How cute," smiled Rebecca.

Meanwhile, Robert was having trouble keeping the speed up. He would push down on the gas pedal, but the speed was hard to increase.

"I can't for the life of me figure out why this car is being so difficult today. It was running fine yesterday." At that moment, a little light came on. It read; **CHECK ENGINE!**

"Uh Robert, you might want to pull over," said Mr Mason.

Robert did pull over, and as he did, there was a loud bang and smoke poured out from under the hood.

"So, what was that you were saying about being able to keep up with Rebecca?" Mr Mason asked. He pointed to the tracks, and both men watched as Rebecca puffed off for the town of Shannon.

"Okay so I was wrong, wouldn't be the first time right?"

Despite Robert and Mr Mason not being able to move, Rebecca made it to the town of Shannon in record timing. The mayor was there waiting for them. He checked his watch, "ten minutes ahead of the trucks, that's pretty good," he said. "And with everything our stores need for our people. Well done No 2578."

"Thank you Sir, and call me Rebecca."

The town's people thanked Rebecca and her crew too, then started to unload the box cars. As they did, Rebecca spotted a flat car in a nearby siding, "may we use that?" Rebecca asked.

"Sure, but why would you need it?" asked the mayor.

"We have a couple of friends we need to pick up."

Far back down the tracks, Mr Mason was looking the engine over. It wasn't good, "your car is completely dead, it'll run no more. You'll need a new engine if you wish to run her again."

Robert smacked his forehead, "great, just great, this is going to cost me big time."

"Never mind that, how are we suppose to get this back to the yards? We're too far off to push it."

"I guess we'll have to get a tow truck for my car," sighed Robert.

But just as they were getting ready to walk off to the town of Shannon, they saw Rebecca return with the flat car and caboose, "need a lift Robert and Mr Mason?" Rebecca asked.

With the aid of the crew, they were able to get the car close to the tracks and onto the flatcar. Once tied down, Rebecca puffed off back to the yards and workshop.

Later that night, Rebecca was simmering inside the shops when Robert came forward, "I got a call from the mayor of Shannon, he was very impressed with your delivery service. 'Best I've ever seen' he said to me. You gave him quite a good first impression, and you certainly were a big help when my car broke down."

"Just returning the favour Robert," smiled Rebecca.

"It'll take time for my car to be restored, but like you and other engines that will arrive here, it can be done. Now, you get some rest, you're gonna have a busy day tomorrow." Robert turned on his heel and left, leaving the engine to doze in the calm and quiet of the workshops, with the only sounds coming from a radio left on by a worker.

As Robert was leaving for home, Mr Mason came up to see him, "Rebecca isn't going to be the only engine of our fleet Robert. Our team in Ontario has just phoned in. They're bringing in a Hudson."


	3. Book 1 Story 3-Rivals

Sorry for being a day late, life gets in the way. You know how it goes. Anwyays, this is where 'The Hudson' gets introduced.

 _ **Rivals**_

Following the successful run to the town of Shannon, Rebecca found herself working on a different job. She was in charge of bringing down loaded gondolas and a caboose to the end of the line, where workers would be waiting to lay down new rails. Since the railroad was still new to the Island, the line only went from the docks to the town of Shannon, but the town of McGinnis was in desperate need of the railroad, so now with a steam locomotive on hand, work could really begin.

All this work was being done under the supervision of Jack Ingram. He was the man in charge of maintenance to the line, and at this time, was in charge of laying down the lines to all the towns the railroad was to go through. He was also the man in charge of operating the crane to unload the rails and ties from the gondolas.

"Alright everyone, here comes another set of ties!" he called to them, "Watch your heads!" The ties were lifted out of the gondolas and over to the spot they were needed in, and thankfully all workers ducked for cover.

"This is certainly different from the way the Canadian National layed down tracks," Rebecca said to Mr Ingram.

"Well we can't really get the big equipment that the bigger railroads have, so we have to go with old fashioned methods, but between us Rebecca, I don't think the workers mind at all."

"Certainly beats sitting at a desk all day!" called one of the workers.

"Or sitting at home after layed off by the bigger railroads," said another as both workers lifted a railroad tie into position.

Ever since arriving on the railroad, Rebecca heard quite a few stories about how these people lost their old jobs, and most of the time it was because of the diesels. She was glad though that they were being given a second chance, just like her and soon the other engines that would arrive on the Freedom Railroad.

Speaking of which, at this particular moment, another cargo ship arrived with another steam engine on board. Mr Mason was indeed correct, it was a hudson, but not just any hudson. It was a Royal Hudson from the Canadian Pacific, Numbered; 2823. Her paintwork looked faded and scratched, and there were visable signs of rust on her, though not as much as Rebecca had.

"Wow, now _that's_ a good find," commented Robert. "Wherever did they find her?"

One of the men who found the Hudson came over to speak with Robert, "we spotted her while we were in Toronto. We were just about to head over to the scrap yards when we heard her whistle. We thought we would be seeing her pull a passenger train, but to our surprise, she was pulling a freight train."

"Well even Royal Hudsons have to pull freight trains from time to time," said Robert.

"Yeah I guess so, but we're used to seeing them on passenger...you know what, I'm rambling again. Anyways, we followed her to the yards and saw her talking to the manager of the Canadian Pacific. He was telling her that in a year's timing, she would be retired and scrapped. That's when we stepped in and offered to buy her."

"How much did you have to pay to get her?" Mr Mason asked.

"Not much, we got her cheap. Man, those railroads really want to get rid of these fine machines, it's terrible."

"Indeed it is Steven," said Robert. "And that's why we're still on the look out for more engines. Now I want to thank you for the great find, and wish you good luck on the rest of your search for other engines."

The man known as Steven nodded, and went to rejoin the crew on board the ship. This left Robert and Mr Mason to check 2823 over, and to give her a proper welcome.

Back down the line, the workers were still laying down tracks, but the wind was beginning to pick up. It made railroad ties swing about at the end of the crane's hook.

"Come on you silly ties, stop swinging about over there!" shouted Mr Ingram, "last thing we need is for you to break and hurt someone."

But of course it wasn't the ties that were causing trouble, it was the wind. Worst still, it was starting to weaken the ropes. Rebecca could see this, even from four gondolas down. As the ropes were about to snap, she shouted to her engineer, "blow my whistle now!"

Niki grabbed the whistle chain and blew the whistle four times. The workers heard her, even with the wind blowing into their faces, and moved away. It was a good thing they did, cause at that moment, the ropes snapped and the ties crashed to the ground. Right in the spot they had been working at.

"Yikes, that could've been nasty," said one of the workers.

Mr Ingram sighed with relief, then he called out, "thanks for the warning Rebecca, don't know what we would do without you!" He groaned a moment later, "darn blasted wind."

He climbed down from the crane's cab, went over to his pick-up truck and pulled out another rope, "hopefully _this one_ will hold."

Thankfully the other rope did hold, and they were able to lay down more track till the cars were empty. By that time, the sun was going down, and it was time to call it a day. As they made their way back, Niki heard the radio crackle into life, "Niki, Wendy, are you there? Over?"

Niki grabbed the radio with her left hand while keeping her other hand on the reverser, "this is Niki, over."

"How far away are you guys? We're going to need Rebecca on another job, over."

"We're just coming back into the town of Shannon now, it won't take us long to get back to the yards, over."

"Very good, cause our next engine has just arrived, and we need to get her to the workshops for repair work. Over."

"Roger that, we'll be there very soon. Over and out."

"Another engine? Wow, now that was quick," gasped Rebecca. "The railroad had only just gotten me, and now there's another one. I wonder what this engine will be like."

"You won't have to wait too long Rebecca, we'll be back in the yards before you know it," said Wendy.

When they arrived at the yards to drop off the empty gondolas, Rebecca got her first glimpse at the locomotive. She was surprised to see a Royal Hudson sitting on the dockside, and not in steam.

"Oh boy, a Royal Hudson, this ought to be interesting," Rebecca thought unahppily to herself. For as long as she could remember, the Royal Hudsons were known for two things. One; they pulled royal visitors and two; they _always_ bragged about being superior. Still, she did promise to give the newcomer a good welcome, so she put those thoughts aside and once she was uncoupled, she went to the dockside.

2823 was surprised when she saw what was coming to push her to the workshops.

"You have to be kidding me, you guys have one of those common engines here? I thought it would be one of the Bullet Nosed engines, or their streamlined Northerns, not this common shunter."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," muttered Rebecca.

She ran past the Hudson, changed tracks and coupled up to the tender. Mr Mason was also there to watch the operation unfold.

"I don't see why I can't just puff into the workshops on my own," 2823 said to Mr Mason. "I was still working those freight trains when I was bought."

"I know that 2823, but when an engine arrives here, they are to be taken to the workshops by another engine, it's the rule around here. Plus," Mr Mason added, "it's to be on the safe side you know."

"I suppose, but isn't there any other engine that could take me? You know, a non-common engine?"

"Sorry, but apart from you, _I'm_ the only other engine on the line," Rebecca said firmly. "There are no Streamliners or big 10 driving wheeled locomotives, so looks like you'll have to settle with me."

"Fine! I suppose you'll have to do."

Mr Mason looked worried. He knew all too well about rivalries from other railroads. Still, he gave the order to shunt 2823 to the workshops. Rebecca pushed slowly and carefully, but didn't say another word to the Hudson.

In fact, even after the Hudson was placed inside the workshops, and Rebecca took the other stall, not a single word was said.

During the time it took to work on the Hudson, Rebecca continued on with her normal work. She took gondolas and a caboose down the line, and on occassion brought freight to the town of Shannon.

Finally, the day came when the tracks arrived in the town of McGinnis.

"Finally! The railroad is here!" cried a town's person. The crowds there started cheering.

Mr Ingram though was more focused on the work that needed to be done. The town of McGinnis had lots of roads, and the only way they could run the tracks into town was to run the lines through the streets.

"This will be quite a challenge," he thought to himself. He looked to the town's police chief, "do you think you can provide road blocks while we do this work?"

"Of course, anything for the railroad."

With that worrying thought out of his head, Mr Ingram went back to his truck and drove off back to the yards. Rebecca soon followed with the workers and empty gondolas.

When she returned to the workshops a short while later, she noticed two things. One was the sight of box cars blocking a few tracks away from the shops, and two was seeing the Hudson in full steam.

"They mended me in no time," 2823 boasted. "Not surprising, we Hudsons were built to last you know."

"Fastening," said Rebecca, although she wasn't interested. "Well I've done enough work for one day, I need my sleep."

"Of course you do," said 2823. "It must be exhausting to just sit around doing nothing." Rebecca raised an eyebrow at this, "oh yes, I know you sit around doing nothing all day, but that's not surprising for a common engine like yourself."

"Oh really?" Rebecca asked, starting to sound a little annoyed, "I'll have you know I've made more journeys from the site to the yards and back than you've ever done in your entire working life."

"So you say, but I've never seen you in the yards."

"Well I'm not surprised, you've got your tender to the yards and there's no window in the shop showing the main line."

"Hey come on you two, stop arguing!" snapped Mr Mason. "We don't like this sort of talk from anyone or any engine that works on the Freedom Railroad."

"Don't tell me, tell 2823, she started it. Ms High and mighty over there, who didn't even pull a royal train."

"What did you just say?" 2823 raised an eyebrow of her own.

"You heard me. I know the story of the Hudsons taking royal trains, it was 2850 and 2851 that pulled those trains, not you. Yet, you Royal Hudsons think you're all the best, while any other engine is considered common."

"Not enterily true there 2578, I don't believe all engines are common. At least, none on my former Railroad."

"Are you saying the Canadian National had nothing but common engines?" Rebecca was really starting to get angry at this engine's attitude.

"Not all of them. As I had stated a month ago, the Northerns and Bullet Nosed engines were fine locos, but the rest of you. Well, I think it's obvious to see who's common. You don't even have a special paintjob on you, just regular black with your red square on your tender."

That was the last straw, "oh yeah? Well at least we _common_ engines as you call us can do any kind of work without fussing. You high and mighty engines only wish to pull one kind of train, leaving the rest behind! You're all stuck up fools who don't know what it means to be a real hard worker!"

Mr Mason was about to stop this, but 2823 beat him to the punch.

"We do pull other trains you know, and we can do it without struggling, unlike the rest of you common folks!"

"But we can get the trains to our destinations safely, where as you go so fast, you break everything on board your train! Honestly, I don't even know how your line is still running with all the damage you do."

"The Canadian Pacific is the finest railroad in the world, and it's alot better than your railroad 2578!"

"The name's Rebecca you jerk! And at least I got something you don't! I have a name, where as you don't! Seems to me then that _you_ are the common engine around here, not me!"

The arguing went on until Mr Mason climbed into Rebecca's cab and blew her whistle loud and long.

"Geez, you even have the whistle of a common engine," snorted 2823.

"Shut up both of you!" snapped Mr Mason. "I said we don't like this kind of behavior around here, and I meant it! If you two can't get along..." but he didn't know what else to say. He couldn't say they would get another set of engines to take their place, cause that would destory the reputation the Freedom Railroad had started, and there were no other sheds to store them away from each other, at least not yet. In the end, he came up with a decision, "Rebecca, you can go sleep in our soon to be opened station, and you can stay there until you two can apologize! And 2823, you stay quiet tonight! I don't want to hear another word from either of you!"

Without saying another word, Rebecca puffed away from the workshops while 2823, who had only had a test run in the yards, went back into the workshops.

Robert was just leaving his office when he saw Rebecca coming into the station. Thankfully there was a roof over the station, so she would be protected from the rain, if there was any that night.

"Rebecca, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the workshops resting?" he asked in surprise.

"I had a bit of an argument with that stuck up hudson, and Mr Mason said I was to stay here." She then told Robert about the contents of the argument.

"Right, I think I need to have a chat with 2823. As for you, get some rest, you've earned it." He turned and went off to the shops.


	4. Book 1 Story 4-Equal Partners

_**Equal Partners**_

"I knew this was going to happen, I just knew from the start," Mr Mason grumbled as he put 2823's fire out for the night. "You can't just expect two engines that came from two different railroads to get along right away. There will always be arguing between them, and that leads to nothing but trouble for a railroad."

"Mumbling again Bryan?" called a voice from down below.

Mr Mason moved over to the engineer's window and looked down to see Robert in the workshops. "Of course I'm mumbling, both our engines just had a nasty argument and..."

"I know, I was already talking with Rebecca. Now why don't you let me talk with 2823, and you go home for a good night's rest. You've certainly earned it after all the work you and the workers have been putting in."

"Very well," sighed Mr Mason. Once the fire was completely out, he climbed down from the cab and went over to his truck.

2823 stood firmly in her spot, "I will not be apologizing to that common engine. She insulted my line, she insulted my class and she insulted me for goodness sakes. Who does that engine think she is anyways?"

Robert walked up to the front of 2823 and sat down on a box in front of her, "well that's bound to happen. After all, you're both very proud of the lines you originally came from, and to hear them get insulted, well it was bound to start an argument."

"I suppose so, but we Royal Hudsons are fine locomotives with a great history," retorted 2823.

"Indeed, you have sleak designs, you carry passengers and your class even carried royality once upon a time, so it does give you a high ranking above other engines, am I correct in saying that?"

"Perhaps."

"Where as engines like Rebecca only ever carried freight, or on a rare occassion; passengers. There are some differences between the two of you. However," went on Robert, "there _is_ something between the two of you steamers that you have in common."

2823 raised an eyebrow at this, "really? And what do I have in common with that rude locomotive?"

"Oh its very simple 2823, both of you had been marked for scrap." This remark got rid of the smug look on 2823's face. "Oh yes, the two were told you were going to be scrapped, or on the verge of being cut up. It really doesn't matter if you're a freight engine, or a passenger engine, once the railroad's decided to get rid of you, that was the end of your story. At least until you were bought and brought here."

"It's okay to be proud of the railroads you came from," Robert went on, "but just don't forget the two of you were nearing your end, and now have been given second chances. Think on it for a while." And with that, Robert left.

Fifteen minutes later, the last of the workers left the workshops, turning off the lights and shutting the doors behind them. In the darkness, 2823 found herself thinking. She thought about the Canadian Pacific, the words she heard about being withdrawn from service, and of what Robert said about second chances. She thought about it throughout the evening.

Rebecca was thinking too. Both she and 2823 were lucky to be on the railroad, and all they've done was argue with each other. She had completely forgotten her promise to Robert when he rescued her.

"I should apologize to 2823 when I get the chance," she thought to herself.

However, the next morning she wouldn't get that chance right away. She had alot of work to do to help get the line to the town of McGinnis. She collected some flatcars and a caboose, and puffed away down the line.

When she arrived at the end of the line for now, she found Mr Ingram and some of the other workers already there, busy at work. They were using jackhammers to break apart the concrete in the roads, and measuring the grooves to make sure all would be right for the rails.

Nobody seemed to mind at all that the road was being broken up. After all, they were excited for the railroad. Well, all except for a couple of girls watching from a nearby sidewalk.

"We don't need trains, we need more trucks! Bring on the trucks!" they called rudely.

Rebecca ignored them. She had heard talk like that before from people who didn't like the railroads.

Just then, one of the workers called out, "can one of you two ladies give us a hand here? We're short one person today."

"Don't y'all worry, I'll give you a hand," called Niki. She climbed down from the cab and went to help. Wendy climbed out of the cab too, but for a different reason. She had an oil can with her to oil the joints.

Noticing this, one of the two girls on the sidewalk got a stupid idea, "why don't we take the train?" she suggested.

"Take it? How?"

"Simple you dumb-bell, we drive it away from here, dump it and the rails into the water at the harbour, and that will delay the rail-lines coming into our town. It's perfect, now come on."

But her friend wasn't so sure about this, "we could land in alot of trouble for this. Maybe we should just except this is out of our control."

The first girl shook her head, "I will do no such thing, now come on!" She grabbed her friend's arm and dragged her over towards Rebecca's cab. Then unknown to anyone, they climbed into the cab.

"We really shouldn't be here, we're going to..."

"Oh be quiet, we're doing this town a favour. Now, how do you start this thing?"

She pushed a throttle, and moved another one, thinking they would go backwards. Moments later, she heard a chuffing sound, "there we go. See, nothing to worry about."

Rebecca was startled to find herself moving, but not backwards, she was going forwards, "whoa stop!" she cried.

Wendy was startled when the wheels started moving. She ran towards the cab and found two girls in there, "what do you..." she began, but then noticed the gondolas already coming off the tracks and into the grooves already made. One car after another came off, with Niki and the workers running to get out of the way. Wendy applied the brakes, but by then it was too late. Rebecca's front wheels left the rails and a loud thump, the driving wheels came off the rails too, followed by the tender.

"Ouch!" cried Rebecca as she fell onto the concrete. "What happened?"

"That's what I like to know," said one of the police officers.

Wendy came over to the side of the cab with the two girls beside her, and she had a firm grip on their ears, "these two little troublemakers are the ones responsible for this mess," she said angerily.

"We just wanted to drive the train away so you wouldn't go through our town," said one of the girls.

Her friend, the one that really caused the accident, kicked her friend in the leg. The police officer shook his head, "right, you two are coming down to the station. Boys, cuff them."

Two officers climbed into the cab, arrested the two girls and took them away.

Mr Ingram looked at the mess, "we can move the gondolas back with the crane, but Rebecca is another story," he sighed. "I don't see how we're going to get her back onto the tracks."

"Why not slide some rails underneath Rebecca, and use 2823 to pull her back?" suggested Wendy. "She was in steam yesterday, so maybe they have her in steam now."

"Well anything's worth a try I guess." He went to the crane's cab and got out his radio, "this is Mr Ingram to Robert, come in Robert."

"This is Robert, what's going on Mr Ingram?"

"We have a bit of a situation here, and we're going to need some help."

2823 was in steam and shunting some box cars to a site the workers were being secretive about. She was still thinking about the previous night's talk with Robert, when the manager himself came running up.

"There's a situation down in the town of McGinnis. A couple of foolish kids tried to steal Rebecca, but only ended up derailing her."

"You got to be kidding me," groaned Mr Mason.

"I wish I was Bryan. Anyways, we're going to need 2823 to help."

"But neither of these engines will get along, why do you think she would want to help Rebecca?"

Robert looked to 2823, "What do you say 2823? Will you help an engine in trouble?"

2823 thought about it. On one hand, Rebecca was a former Canadian National engine, and they had argued the night before, but on the other hand, she was a survivor just like her. In the end, she made her decision.

While waiting for help to arrive, the workers and the engine crew worked together to help clean up the mess. Mr Ingram started by lifting Rebecca up, while everyone else placed rails underneath the locomotive.

"Fine couple of days these turn out to be," Rebecca muttered to herself. "First I have a fight with the newest engine, then I come off the tracks. She probably won't even come to my rescue after what I said."

But as she was being placed onto the layed down rails, everyone heard a whistle in the distance.

"It's the Hudson!" cried Niki.

She was right, it was 2823 coming to the rescue with Mr Mason and Robert in the cab. Both men, crew and engine were surprised by the mess. Wendy explained everything to them.

"Just wait till _I_ have a little chat with these girls," Mr Mason said angerily. "I'll teach them not to mess with our engines."

"That will do Bryan, first things first, we need to get Rebecca out of that mess and back to the workshops."

Once the tender was on the layed down rails, all that was needed was to pull Rebecca clear. They couldn't run 2823 onto the layed down rails, so they attached the two engines together with a long chain.

"Hope this holds," muttered Mr Mason.

"You and me both," said Robert. He then waved to 2823's crew, "okay you guys, pull gently!"

2823 slowly reserved and pulled as gently as she could on the chains. Slowly, Rebecca moved along the rails with Mr Mason and Niki keeping an eye on the wheels to be on the safe side.

After what seemed like forever, the tender's back wheels came back to the solid rails, then the front tender wheels. The Driving wheels soon followed and finally came the front wheels. The workers cheered loudly, and so did the police officers on site.

"That's some fine rescuing there," said one officer. "You guys have engines to be proud of."

"Yes," nodded Robert. "We do indeed."

Rebecca's fire had already been put out, so 2823 was properly coupled up, and with Niki, Wendy and Mr Mason riding in Rebecca's cab, 2823 towed her back to the workshops while Robert stayed behind with the workers to help clean up the rest of the mess.

On the way, Rebecca spoke to 2823, "listen 2823, I'm sorry for the words that were said last night. It's just..."

"I know, we were both very proud of our lines and just trying to defend them, but since we're on a new line now, we should put the past away and move on."

Rebecca smiled, "you know, that's just what I was thinking. So, we can be partners for now on?"

"Definetly, but we're more than just partners 2578, uh Rebecca, we're family now."

"Family, I like the sound of that."

After dropping Rebecca off in the workshops, 2823 went back to the town of McGinnis and helped the workers with laying down the rest of the line. After that, there was no more trouble with residants or the trains.

As for the two girls, they were turned over to their parents, who promised to punish them severly for their actions. Needless to say, they would think twice before trying anything stupid again.

When the day's work was done, 2823 returned to the yards and found Rebecca outside the workshops.

"No serious damage?" she asked.

Rebecca smiled, "just a couple of scratches, but they've been fixed up. Other than that, I'm good and ready for work once more. How did it go in the town of McGinnis?"

Before 2823 could answer, Robert stepped forward, "well I'm glad to see the two of you getting along so well. I hope this will continue, not just with the two of you, but for every engine that comes here in the future."

"Definetly Robert," they said in unison. "And to show how deeply sorry I am for my words yesterday, if it's okay with you Sir, I would like to give 2823 a name of her own."

"Of course you can do that Rebecca, what name did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking of Carrie."

"Why Carrie?" asked 2823.

"I don't know, maybe because it's the perfect name for an engine who's a caring friend," smiled Rebecca.

2823 smiled, "okay then, I accept the name of Carrie."

"Very good," smiled Robert. "Now tonight, I don't want you two sleeping in the workshops. We will need those shops in the future." He looked to the lines of box cars near the workshop, "if you would please shunt those box cars to the yards, you'll see where you will be sleeping for now on."

The two engines moved the lines of box cars in no time at all, and puffed down the tracks to see a big surprise awaiting them. It was a Roundhouse, the biggest one they have ever seen in their lives.

"It almost goes all the way around," gasped Carrie. "It's...it's..."

"Beautiful," smiled Rebecca.

She continued to puff forward until she reached a turntable. As she stopped, she found herself being turned to a stall. A stall with a Number 1 above the doors. Niki opened the reverser and slowly drove Rebecca inside the shed. A short while later, Carrie was turned on the turntable and parked beside the former Canadian National engine.

"These sheds," said Robert, "have been under construction since we began back in 1953, and this is your new home. It will keep you dry from rain and snow, it's big enough to house the biggest engines in the world, and it's a great place for light maintenance work to be carried out. There's also a radio in here for you engines to listen to at night, since you seem to enjoy having music to listen to."

"I know I do," smiled Carrie. "I was listening to the radio during the time I was being worked on."

"This is all so wonderful. Thank you Robert," smiled Rebecca. "I think I speak for both of us when I say, we love these sheds."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, you two get some rest, there's still alot of work that needs to be done on the line, and hopefully we'll be able to start passenger services soon. Good night."

He turned on his heel and left, leaving the two engines to enjoy their first night in their brand new sheds.

 _ **The End!**_

 _Well readers, I hope you have enjoyed the first book of the Railroad Stories, and I want to thank everyone who's been giving me great suggestions of Locomotives to add in the future, some from Southern Pacific, some from California Western and even an unbelivable engine from Russia. Keep those engines coming, I love to hear which locomotives you want to see. For Book 2, I have already decided on which engine to go for next, while I won't give away it's class or name, I will give you a hint. (It's a locomotive made famous by a model train brand). Till next time my friends. ;)_


	5. Book 2 Story 1-Proving Value

Just 70 days after posting my last chapter of the Railroad Stories Book 1, I am proud to present the first story of Book 2 in this series. Before we begin, I wish to thank everyone for being patient as I worked on this book, there were a couple of reasons for it's delay. One was when the weather warmed up, I ended up busy doing house work, and another was more often than not, I couldn't come up with ideas for the stories, but you're not here to read reasons for the delay, you're here to read more about those Freedom Railroad engines.

Since the first story of Book 1 was posted, I have been recieving many requests for steam locomotives, and I thank those people for the suggestions. Rest assured that after book 2, those locomotives will start coming in and truth be told, there were a few I wanted to include as well, but I won't say which ones they are as that'll only spoil the surprise for future releases. As for this volume's locomotive, if you had guessed the toy train brand was Lionel and the model was the J1 NYC Hudson, you were correct. The idea to bring the hudson came from looking at a Lionel Trains metal sign I have hanging on my wall before my bedroom. Amazing where ideas can come from eh? Oh and one last note to point out, the remaining stories will be posted over the next few weeks of June, much like how Book 1 was posted in the month of March.

 _ **The Railroad Stories**_

 _ **Book 2: Andrew the Determined Engine**_

 _ **Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Greeting Readers,

 _If you are to look to New York today, then you'll often find Norfolk Southern freight trains rolling down the tracks, but not that long ago, the tracks were owned and run by a different railroad. It was called the New York Central. It had many locomotives over the many years it had been around, but the most famous were the engines that inspired a whole series of toy trains by Lionel; The Hudsons. Before visiting the Freedom Railroad, I thought all the Hudsons from the NYC were gone from the world, but like before, I was surprised to see one in the sheds and this engine had a few tales to tell me._

The Author

 **Tales Included:**

-Proving Value

-Breaking Up

-Protesters

-Taking a Risk

 _ **Proving Value**_

If you were to ask any railfans that loved the New York Central of which locomotive was the best, many of them will say that the best locomotive of the entire fleet were their series of Hudson steam locomotives. They had many of them, from streamlined Dreyfus Hudsons, Commodor Vanderbilts and even Mercuries. There were also non-streamlined hudsons on the railroad, but these engines were still loved by everyone as they proved both reliable and strong. Some said they were true competitors to the Pennsylvania Railroad's K4 pacifics.

No 5334 is a J1 non-streamlined hudson. He has a good heart, but sometimes he feels he has something to prove and will nearly fall to pieces doing so. Management and other engines all warned him to be careful, but in spite of this, his trains ran to perfect time and he never had any accidents. To him, life was good and nothing was going to ruin it.

That was until the late 1940's.

5334 was in Chicago with a passenger train bound for New York. Nearby stood a new type of locomotive. It was painted a couple of shades of grey, much like the passenger coaches and looked more like a box with wheels. Some important people were looking over this unusual piece of machinery.

5334 decided to strike up a conversation with the new engine, "hey bud, hope you don't mind me asking, but what excatly are you? You're not like any engine I've seen before."

"That's because I'm a diesel," said the engine. "An FA unit to be exact. I, along with these B Units behind me are to be tested on the New York Central to see if we can have a place on your line."

"You can try, but don't be too surprised if you're not accepted. No offense, but our railroad has got enough engines as it is."

Nearby on another track was a Pennsylvania Railroad K4. She looked nervously over to the set of diesel locomotives, "they're our end," she said out loud.

5334 looked over crossly to the K4, "what do you mean by that?"

"Can't you see it 5334? These locomotives are not here to help us with work, they're here to take it from us. My engineer says that in due time, these engines will replace us all and we'll be sent to the scrapyards."

5334 snorted rudely, "pah, you Pennsys are all the same, worrying over every single little thing. We steam locos have been around for many years, and that's never going to change. So do us all a favour, and stop talking garbage."

At that moment, the conductor gave the High Ball signal, "now if you will excuse me, I have a train to pull." 5334 looked over to the diesel, "good luck with your runs, though like I said, don't get your hopes up."

With two blasts of the whistle, the J1 steam locomotive puffed out of the Chicago station.

All the way back to New York, the J1 was thinking about what the K4 said, "stupid engine, thinking diesels will replace us. Yeah right, that'll be the day."

His thoughts were then interupted by a loud sound from behind him. It was the diesel set, running past with an almost empty passenger train. Only the important looking passengers were on board. 5334 wasn't impressed, "doesn't puff, whistle and it's not burning coal. Dang it, that black smoke stinks, what is that smell?"

"That's the smell of a diesel motor, very similar to the smells from an automobile," explained the fireman.

"Well if diesels are going to make smells like that, then I don't think management will allow them on our tracks."

When the day's work was complete, 5334 returned to the engine sheds for maintenance and rest. As he pulled in, he could hear the other engines talking.

"What did I miss?" he asked a Dreyfes Hudson.

"A lot of worrying talk," answered the streamlined hudson. "The test results are in, and it seems that the diesels have proven their worth. Management has decided that they are going to buy more of them for the line."

"It's the end for us," groaned a little shunter. "I don't want to be cut up, I want to continue working."

"Oh geez, just listen to you, you sound like those silly Pennsy engines, always worrying yourself over nothing," grumbled 5334. "So what if management decides to bring in the diesels, they'll just work alongside us. Don't forget, they'll need training and they are smaller than us, well most of us," he muttered, looking to the little shunter, "but I know we will not be replaced or scrapped. We're here to stay and that's final!"

Sadly, 5334 was going to be proven wrong.

As time went on, more and more diesels began to appear on the New York Central. Some were like the FA that 5334 saw in Chicago, but others were about the size of the Niagras, and with more than one unit on board, they were just as or more powerful than the steamers. To make the situation worse, they cost less to keep running, so they were always ready.

The steam engines began to suffer as they were being given maintenance less and less, and they weren't getting cleaned up as much as they used to. They were also stored either in the sheds, workshops or yards to await a job or to meet their end. It really was beginning to look like the end for the steam engines.

It was May 23rd 1956, and 5334 backed down onto a passenger train in Chicago once again. Hardly anyone was looking to the steamer, they were all too busy looking at the diesels to even notice the steam engine.

"When I said good luck to the diesel, I didn't mean to take our places away," 5334 grumbled.

"Can't be helped old boy," said his fireman, "times are changing I'm afraid, and eternal combustion is the way of the future."

"It's garbage if you ask me," said a different voice. 5334 looked to his right and saw a man looking at the engine, "personally, steam locomotion is the best mode of transportation, and it's a terrible shame to see these beautiful machines go."

Hearing those words made 5334 feel a bit better, "this man certainly has good tastes."

"Are you an idiot?" shouted a nearby passenger. "Steamers are a thing of the past. The sooner they're gone, the better."

"Oh yeah?!" snapped 5334, "well the sooner I'm out of here, the sooner I'll be away from you pathetic idiots!"

The nearby passenger grumbled and stormed off to complain. The kind man chuckled and looked back to the hudson, "good choice of words there, fools like him need to be brought down from their thrones."

At that moment, the conductor gave the High Ball signal.

"Right, here we go." And as 5334 blew the whistle, he slowly puffed out of the station and onto the mainline.

Meanwhile, the kind man walked back into the station and over to a nearby pay-phone. After waiting for nearly a minute, he got a response, "Sir, I think I found just what you're looking for."

Out on the main line, 5334 was beginning to pick up speed. The engineer was getting concerned, "steady old boy, you're going to break yourself to pieces going at these speeds."

But 5334 didn't respond back. After hearing the rude passenger, he decided it was time to prove how reliable steamers were once again.

"We don't need three of us to pull one train, we can handle our loads without straining. I'll show management and these new diesels that steamers are better."

Soon, 5334's wheels were turning at such speeds, it almost looked like there were no siderods at all.

"I'll show them all, I'll beat them all," puffed 5334.

Inside the cab, the fireman was shovelling coal for dear life, when he suddenly noticed something. It was the boiler pressure gauge, and it was reading a high level of steam, "that's not good."

"What's not good?" asked the engineer.

"There's too much steam in the boiler!" cried the fireman. The engineer looked and gasped at the high numbers, "we got to release some of that steam from the safety valve."

A safety valve is a small gold piece of metal that sits on top of a steam locomotive's boiler. It is very important, for without it, as proven in this case, the boiler pressure could get too high and could blow up if there's too much of it.

The enginner tried to release some of the steam, but something was wrong. The safety valve was jammed, and nothing was escaping.

"Oh no, this is going to be bad," groaned the fireman.

At first, 5334 knew nothing about the jammed safety valve, his determination was keeping him going. Soon though, he began to feel hot and his face was beginning to turn red.

"I'm not feeling so good," he thought to himself. "But I can't give up. If I do, then those diesels win."

He tried to press on, in spite of his crew's controls, but he was finding his speed going down and he began to feel a pain in his boiler.

"I think I'm going to..." BANG! Right where his jammed safety valve was, steam had burst through the metal, making much of it fly away from 5334. As it escaped, 5334 slowed down to an unhappy stop.

"What happened?" he groaned.

Both the engineer and fireman climbed down and walked up to the front, "You stupid engine, you just gone and blown your boiler up. I don't know what caused your safety valve to not release the steam, but you running at top speed was about the dumbest thing you could do. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I could prove how good we steamers still are," groaned the Hudson.

"Yeah well from where we're standing, it looks like your've proven the opposite."

The engineer then went down the line to get help, while the fireman put out the fire and went to explain everything to the passengers.

The A-B set of diesels from the first encounter were nearby, and soon arrived to take the train. They hauled 5334 and the coaches away back to New York. When they arrived, they found the manager waiting there.

"You are a very stupid engine, trying to out prove diesels, I thought you would've known better from all the years you've worked here."

5334 looked ashamed, "I'm sorry Sir, it won't happen again. Once I'm back in service, I won't show off."

"Actually, you will not be getting any repairs anytime soon."

5334 raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that Sir?"

"What I mean is that you are too expansive to fix up, and with diesels proving their valve, I just don't see a reason why we should fix you. I'm sorry 5334, but you are to be put on a siding out of the way until we can find the time to cut you up."

The hudson's eyes popped wide open in surprise, "but Sir, you can't..."

The FA diesel was shocked too, "Sir, please don't scrap this steamer, give him one more chance. He is a hard worker after all."

But the manager shook his head, "I'm sorry, but we can't do that. Railroads all around the country are getting rid of steam engines right now and getting modern diesels. How would it look to the rest of the country if we stayed with steam engines? Besides," the manager continued, "who's to say he won't try this stunt again, even if he was repaired. Please, just shunt him away and we'll dispose of him later."

With a heavy sigh, the FA diesel hauled a now sobbing Hudson away from the passenger train and over to the yards. He was taken to a siding, uncoupled and left there. The steam crew shook their heads at their engine and walked away.

"So that's it, after all the things I've done, they're just throwing me away. Life is not fair," he sobbed.

A few hours later, he was thinking over his run when he heard footsteps. He looked to his right and saw a familar sight, it was the friendly man from Chicago.

"My goodness, what a mess. How did this happen?" he asked with wide open eyes.

"Jammed safety valve and too much boi...hold on, why are you here?" asked 5334. "This yard is off limits to anyone other than employees."

"That's normally true," said the man, "but people looking to do business with the railroad can also come into the yards, as long as they have permission, and I do. Now, you say it was too much boiler pressure?"

"Yes," groaned the hudson, calming down a little. "And now I'm only good for scrap."

"Scrap?! Oh no, no, no, we can't allow that, and thankfully we won't."

"We?" But 5334 got no answer at that moment as the man was running off. The hudson sighed and tried to think up anything but being turned to scrap.

A short while later, the same man returned with a piece of paper, "well 5334, you're in luck, I got you cheap."

"Cheap? Why? Are you a scrap dealer?"

"A scrap dealer, goodness me no, I could never be one of those people. Cutting history just because of progress, it's just plain wrong."

"No, my name is Jake Winters, and I work for the Freedom Railroad," he explained. "My job, along with many others that are here in America, is to look for steam locomotives and bring them back to the railroad for a second lease of life."

"A second lease of life?"

"Yes," nodded Jake Winters. "You'll get to pull passenger trains, and freight trains too, and best of all, you'll be working alongside steam engines, and no diesels."

"Am...am I...am I dreaming?" 5334 shut his eyes, then opened them. He blinked several times and looked down to see Mr Winters standing there with a big smile on his face.

"It's no dream 5334, it's for real. You are now part of the Freedom Railroad, and this piece of paper proves it." He held it up and showed 5334.

"But, I have a blown boiler. How can I work with a blown boiler?"

"Our top mechanic; Mr Mason and his crew can get you up and running in no time at all. They've already fixed up two other engines, and I'm sure they can do the same to you."

Just then, they heard a diesel horn and saw the FA unit from before return, "you're very lucky 5334, you've been saved."

"Yeah, I guess I was. But what about my crew?" asked 5334. "They just left me."

"Oh don't worry about a crew, you'll be given one once you're repaired. Now, let's get you over to the harbour and get you out of here." Mr Winters climbed into the cab and waved to the diesel's engineer. With several toots of the horn, the FA pulled the now happy Hudson out of the siding.

As they rattled along, the diesel spoke to 5334, "I'm so sorry about this, it's not fair that you steamers are being thrown away just because you're older and need more maintenance."

"Thanks, but you got nothing to be sorry for. After all, it's not your fault, it's the corporations that wish to get rid of us. Bet that'll come back to haunt them."

"You never know," smiled the diesel. "Oh and good luck in your new home, I know you'll do great there."

"Thanks," smiled the Hudson. Though as they were nearing the docks, 5334 began to wonder just what his new life was going to be like.


	6. Book 2 Story 2-Breaking Up

_**Breaking Up**_

Carrie the Royal Hudson was sitting in her berth at the engine sheds after delivering a big load to the town of Shannon. Her crew were oiling many of her moving parts when she saw Rebecca coming in, "good evening Rebecca, I trust the track laying is going along smoothly?"

"As smooth as the rails we run over," answered Rebecca as she stopped on the turntable. She was turned around, and once her berth door was opened, Niki drove her slowly into her space right beside Carrie. "Though I kind of feel sorry for the workers laying down the track."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Well the line beyond the town of McGinnis is suppose to be double-tracked, so that means more work for them."

"Well work is work, it's better than sitting at home doing nothing, or sitting in a scrap yard doing nothing, am I right?"

Rebecca had to agree on that, "I'll say this though, I saw something really strange as I was making my way back to the yards. I saw a whole bunch of automobiles going into a big parking lot with a large white sheet sitting on some poles."

"That's called a drive-in movie theatre," said Wendy as she climbed down with an oil can.

"A drive-in what now?" Carrie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A drive-in movie theatre. It's where people go to see moving picture films, all the while watching them from the comfort of their car. As a bonus," Wendy continued, "they can get snacks like popcorn and soda pop to drink."

Rebecca and Carrie were amazed by this bit of information, "Drive in theatres, whatever will they think up next?" Rebecca asked out loud.

"Well they do come with sound now," answered Niki. "When I was a kid, they never had sound, but nowadays, the movies always come with sound. It's actually better than to be reading words on the screen all the time."

"You're not just saying that because you don't like reading, is it?" Wendy asked with a sly grin.

Niki looked down firmly to Wendy, "no, that's not the reason. I just think it's better, that's all, and in any case," she continued, "I never said I don't like reading, I just don't read often, that's all."

"Sure Niki, of course that's what you meant, my mistake."

Both Rebecca and Carrie were trying hard not to laugh. It was a common thing for Rebecca's crew to often tease each other.

Rebecca's laughs stopped though when a thought came to her, and Carrie noticed this, "is everything alright Rebecca?"

"I guess, it's just...well, we're lucky to be on an Island devoted to giving us new lives, and to pass through such unique towns, other steam locomotives are not as lucky as they are still on the mainland, working out their last days till they are sent for scrap."

"Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten about them," sighed Carrie.

"One of them isn't going threw that right now," came a familar voice. Everyone looked to the side door of the shed and saw Robert coming in, "sorry, didn't mean to interupte your conversations."

"It's fine Robert, I was just thinking out loud." But Rebecca was confused, "uh Robert, shouldn't you have said 'two of them' aren't going through that right now?"

Robert shook his head, "you two _are_ here, so you're not going through all that nonsense over there. No, I was actually referring to the Freedom Railroad's latest addition, who is currently on his way."

"You mean, another engine has been saved?" Carrie asked with hopefulness in her eyes.

"Yes indeed Carrie, another engine has been saved."

Both Rebecca and Carrie beamed brightly when they heard this, then together asked in unison; "what class of engine is he?"

"Well here's a hint, you know that little toy shop in the town of McGinnis that sells several toy trains?"

"Yes," answered Carrie. "I often see that when I have to take the track laying train. I see kids holding onto models that look similar to the New York Central's Hudsons."

A sly grin came to Robert's face.

It didn't take long for Carrie to realise it, "Robert, are you saying we're getting one of _those_ Hudsons here?"

Robert nodded, "yes indeed, Number 5334 has been bought cheap off the New York Central, and will be here within a matter of days."

Carrie looked thrilled, but Rebecca was confused, "why did we get him cheap Robert? Surely they would ask for more money for an engine of that fame."

"Not this one I'm afraid," sighed Robert. "5334 had a small boiler explosion while taking a passenger train, jammed safety valve from what I was told, and he was being withdrawn from the railroad due to the damage done to him."

Rebecca growled, "ungrateful fools."

"Anyways, when 5334 arrives, whoever is closest to the docks will get the chance to shunt him into the workshops. He'll need alot of work, but once repaired, he'll be a great addition."

Both Rebecca and Carrie were pleased to hear this news, and promised to give the Hudson a great welcome, depending who met him first.

Several days later, Rebecca was returning to the yards with empty gondolas. She had just shunted them into place when the yard manager came over, "your frieght cars are going have to wait for a while Rebecca, our new engine has just arrived."

"Say no more, I'm on my way."

She was uncoupled from the gondolas and puffed over to the docks. When she arrived, the tender was just being unloaded. Rebecca gasped at the damage done to the top part of the boiler over the firebox, but that wasn't the only thing to gasp over. The dirt and grime that layed all over the locomotive was a terrible sight to see, not to mention some of the rust on him. It was a terrible way of treating steam engines, and Rebecca was at least glad to see another engine being saved.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe a jammed safety valve could do all that to an engine's boiler."

"Well the racing down the line certainly didn't help matters," groaned the Hudson. "If Mr Winters hadn't bought me, I would've been cut up by the New York Central."

"Well then, you must be glad to be here instead," smiled Rebecca. "I'm Rebecca by the way, do you have a name?"

"A name? No, I don't have a name, just a number. 5334."

"Oh I see, well I'm sure you'll get one in due time." Rebecca puffed off to the switches and changed over to 5334's line. She backed down carefully onto him, and when all was ready, she carefully shunted him to the works.

"Mr Winters said there are two engines here, where's the other one?"

"Carrie? Well she's out with a delivery to the town of McGinnis. I'm sure you'll get a chance to meet her once you're up and running. She's number 2823 in case you're wondering, and I'm 2578."

They soon reached the workshops and found several people inside waiting for them. One was in a plaid shirt, and the other was in overalls.

"He's definetly going to need alot of work," said Mr Mason as Rebecca slowed the Hudson to a stop.

"Don't worry about your repairs 5334," she called to him. "If anyone can fix you up, it's Mr Mason and his crew. Oh and the man in the plaid shirt is our manager; Mr Robert Gagnon, but just remember to call him 'Robert'."

"I'll try and remember that, thank you."

Rebecca was uncoupled, and with a blast of her whistle, she puffed off back to the yards.

Mr Mason and his team of workers started their inspection of 5334 while Robert spoke with the Hudson, "I remember once having a small toy train of your class when I was younger, but I never thought I'd see one of you here on my railroad."

"Uh...well...I'm uh...glad to be here Sir, er I mean Robert."

Robert smiled, "don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Mr Mason came forward at once, "besides the obvious damage to the top part of the boiler, there's also damage underneath with the connection, and the underside of the firebox. They were running him hard and long."

"Just out of curiousity Bryan," said Robert, "how long would that firebox have lasted if left unattended?"

"At best, three months at the most. We'll need to fix it up and put in stronger metal. This is even worse than what we saw with Rebecca when she first came here."

Another worker checked inside the boiler, and reported his findings to Mr Mason, "apart from the hole on top of the boiler, the insides actually look really good."

"Well at least that's some good news." Mr Mason sighed as he looked at the Hudson, "it'll probably take us a month to repair him, but like always, it can be done."

"Excellent to hear," smiled Robert. "I'll leave you guys to it. Me, I got some paperwork that's got my name written all over it."

He turned and left the workshops, leaving Mr Mason and his workers to begin.

That night, Rebecca returned back to the sheds a little later than usual. "What held you up Rebecca?" Carrie asked.

"Mr Ingram wanted to lay down a bit more extra track, and we lost track of time, then a worker broke their back and I had to rush them to hospital." Carrie gasped. "Don't worry though, the worker is fine," Rebecca reassured her, "but Mr Ingram's learned to call it a night sooner than tonight."

"Well that's good. Say, did you get to meet the new engine?"

"No, he rolled in by himself," Rebecca said with a chuckle. "Yes I did, and he seems like a friendly engine, though the damage was worse than I could've thought."

"Well blown boilers have a habit of doing that, just look to old 130."

"Old 130?" Rebecca asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes, now that's an engine who's blown up and still manages to work, in spite of rumours of him being cursed. You see, he first lost control in the rockies, derailed and sadly killed his crew. He was rebuilt after that, but something was not quite right with the boiler and one day, it blew up. Needless to say, his crew did not survive that encounter. He became a pariah agmost the engines and everyone started calling him 'The Cursed engine of the Rockies'."

Rebecca groaned hearing that. "Well from what I saw, the explosion would've jolted the crew and passengers, but nothing serious like 130."

A month and a week later, the big moment finally arrived. 5334 was fired up and brought out of the workshops for test runs. The Hudson looked better than ever with a shiny coat of black paint, white trim on the wheels and even bright white paint for the letters on the tender and numbers on the cab. He still looked like a product of the New York Central, except like the two engines before him, 5334 now had the name 'Freedom Railroad' on the tender.

"Looking and sounding good," commented Robert, "but now let's run him along the line to see how well he does."

Mr Mason was about to nod in agreement when another worker came running over, "excuse me Mr Gagnon, but you got a phone call. It's the dock yard manager."

Robert walked into the workshops to except the call. He returned quite soon, "small change in plans, we're going to the docks first."

At the docks, a large cargo ship was waiting to be unloaded. The cargo on board were for the towns of McGinnis and Shannon. Neither Rebecca nor Carrie were near the yards, so it was the perfect chance to test 5334.

The Hudson collected some box cars and a caboose, then puffed over to the docks.

The ship scoffed at the mere sight of the hudson, "for crying out loud, this railroad's getting dumber everytime I see it. First it brings in those two engines, now it brings you in. Why can't they ever bring in a diesel?"

"Cause this is a steam railroad!" retorted 5334. "It's suppose to run with only steam."

"A waste if you ask me," snorted the ship rudely. "Diesels are stronger, faster and look better than you ever will, not to mention they're cleaner with their fuel. Coal on the other hand, it's dirty useless stuff."

This got 5334 angry, "oh yeah, just you wait, I'll prove you wrong."

"Doubt it," scoffed the ship.

It would've been better if 5334 ignored the ship's comments like Carrie and Rebecca do, but instead decided to take on the challenge and prove his worth.

Soon the cars were loaded and once given the high-ball, 5334 jerked out of the docks.

"Whoa, take it easy there!" shouted Mr Mason. "We want this cargo to get to the towns in one piece, not a thousand pieces!"

But 5334 didn't hear the warning, he was thinking, "I may have failed on the New York Central, but not here. Here, I'll prove how good I am."

Once out of the docks, and past the yards and shops, the Hudson began to pick up speed. At first, all was well, but Robert was getting concerned, "we shouldn't really be pushing him this hard Bryan."

"I know that Robert, but it's not me that's making him go faster, it's 5334's own doing. He's speeding himself up."

Mr Mason was correct, and trouble was coming up. They were passing a line of farm-houses when suddenly, 5334 began to feel something loose on his right side.

"What's going..." he began.

Then it happened, rather quickly. The right hand siderods broke away, swung up and smacked the underside of the boiler, causing alot of water to escape. Mr Mason saw this, and still sitting in his seat, somehow, he grabbed the brake handle and stopped the train. He then ordered the fireman to drop the fire, "it's dangerous to let the boiler run dry, it could explode again."

The fireman didn't need telling twice, he dropped the fire within seconds.

Mr Mason and Robert climbed down and inspected the problem. It was clear to see what happened, "the bolts had worked themselves loose, we didn't tie them on properly. I feel like an idiot."

"No Bryan it's not your fault, something like this could've happened at any speed," reassured Robert. His expression changed to a firm look, "however, it was made worse by the rushing by 5334."

"But I..."

"I don't know what that was about, but now you've damaged yourself again and blocked the main line. This is _not_ how we act on the Freedom Railroad."

5334 looked down with a shamed face. Luckily, a farmer had seen them and phoned to the town of Shannon. Carrie soon arrived and after being coupled up, pulled 5334 and the train to the next town. When they arrived, 5334 was shunted into a siding out of the way while she took charge of the train. Much later, Rebecca arrived and towed the Hudson back to the shop.

"I'm sorry Robert Sir, I was just trying to prove to that ship that I'm better than those diesels."

"Really?" Robert raised an eyebrow when he heard this. "Is that how you damaged yourself in the first place?"

5334 was hesitant at first, but finally answered; "yes."

"So, you like to prove yourself reliable." He sighed and shook his head, "it's fine to prove yourself, but not in a way that's going to break yourself to pieces. As I said, this is not how we do things here. You're going back into the workshops for full repairs, and once done, I'm going to give you slow easy jobs to do until I can trust you not to break yourself to pieces."

Robert turned and left for his office, leaving 5334 with a lot to think about.


	7. Book 2 Story 3-Protesters

Hey fans, I know I don't normally post messages till the end of the book or the beginning, but there's something I felt I should tell you. As you might be aware, earlier this year, Arcade Productions released a first fan-made Thomas song, and recently they posted a second song called 'End of the Line'. It's a heart-felt song and it actually made me think of not only the engines included, but of the steamers who, if they are like the Sudrian engines, worried of their future. If any of you have heard the song, do you often think of those locos too, or the ones that never made it? If you haven't heard the song though, check it out. :) And now, back to our regular scheduled story.

 _ **Protesters**_

Although the Freedom Railroad ran through only Shannon and McGinnis, the people of the Island have come to know that the railroad is a haven for Steam locomotives, and even those living in towns without any rail lines would go to those towns to see the engines and their crews at work. The train's pressence was always met with cheerful waves, camera flashes or just plain smiles on the people's faces. This made the engines and their crews feel happy. However, they did notice once and a while of some people looking quite sad.

Two nights after 5334's incident, Carrie returned to the sheds for a good evening's rest, but first, she wanted to talk with Rebecca, "when you were going about your work today, did you notice some people looking sad to you?"

"Yes I did as a matter of fact," answered the Consolidation. "I was waiting for Mr Ingram to empty the gondolas in front of me, and during that time, I saw an elderly couple looking to me with sad looks on their faces. One even shook their head and sad something to their partner, though from my distance I couldn't tell what they were saying."

"Do you think they're unhappy cause we're here?"

"Could be Carrie, remember those girls that tried to steal me and throw me into the water? They weren't happy to see me then, but they had angry looks, not sad looks."

"Actually I know why many of those people are sad," said Wendy as she climbed down from Rebecca's cab.

"Oh?" Carrie asked with a raised eyebrow. "So what is it?"

"Well, you know how over on the Mainland there are steam engines working their final years, weeks or days and are being withdrawn? Well these people I believe are from over there, and when they come here, I think they think you engines are in the same positions as those engines."

"What? But that's not going to happen," gasped Rebecca. "I mean for goodness sakes, we were bought by the Freedom Railroad to work, and to stay out of the scrapyards."

Wendy nodded as she started oiling Rebecca's moving parts, "well we know that, and pretty much everyone on the Island knows that, but not everyone out there does. Look back to your first day of operation Rebecca, weren't those ships surprised to see you in steam?"

"Yes they were."

"There you go. Our railroad is still new, so not everyone's going to know about the promise to keep steam alive. Not yet anyways, but they will with a little bit of time."

"Well let's hope so," said Carrie, "I'd hate for us to become like ghosts to the rest of the world."

When morning came, the crews returned to get the engines ready for the day's work. Rebecca was still mostly asleep while Carrie was wide awake. As she was puffing out of the shed, a voice called out, "hold on a minute Carrie!" She stopped and looked to see Robert coming over to the sheds. His shout-out to her also woke Rebecca up.

"Good morning Robert, uh is there a problem this morning?" Carrie asked curiously.

"Actually no, today is going to be a special day for the Freedom Railroad, for today we're finally going to be starting passenger services along the line."

"Really?" Rebecca asked with surprise. "That's quick, I thought we weren't suppose to start until we reached the town of McKenna, and we're only halfway there."

"While it's true we're only halfway to the town of McKenna, I had decided to start services as soon as 5334 was repaired. And truth be told, I was already getting asked all the time of when services were going to start." Robert chuckled, "seems people really want passenger trains on the railroad, and who can blame them? It's better than driving everywhere you want to go to."

"5334 was suppose to take the first train," Robert continued, "however due to his incident, I've had to make a little change in plans. Rebeeca, as you were the first engine on the line, you will take the first passenger train. Carrie, you got track laying and freight services."

"Yes Sir," said the two engines in unison.

"Do your best today, and with luck, we'll show the Island we're good for more than just freight."

Like the locomotives, the Freedom Railroad was also saving lots of coaches from various railroads. Some were still in various states of repair, while others were ready to go to work, although they did look unusual as they still had their original railroad colors. Although grateful to be bought, they weren't the most friendly pieces of rolling stock the railroad had to offer.

"What's this?" one coach asked as Rebecca backed down onto them. "A freight engine pulling us? It's dispicable, it's unthinkable. We won't move if that's the engine that will be pulling us."

"Too bad," said Rebecca as she coupled up, "it's manager's orders, not mine."

The coaches refused to move, even after they were coupled up, but with much puffing, Rebecca got them out of the yards and over to the station, "they'll learn to adjust," she thought to herself.

The passengers on the platform were surprised to see the unusual train come in. The rear coach was from the Canadian Pacific, the middle coach was from the Northern Pacific and the first one behind Rebecca's tender was a Union Pacific coach, but none the less, the passengers were pleased to finally see a passenger train and took many photographs, and even moving pictures of the train.

"All this fuss over a little old passenger train," Rebecca giggled.

"Well it's a sight that won't be seen for too much longer," said Wendy as she looked back. "Before long, scenes like this will be gone and replaced with the sight of diesel powered trains."

One passenger on the platform, who came from the Mainland, overheard the conversation and thought Wendy was talking about the fate of the Freedom Railroad's fleet.

"I can't let them destory history," he thought to himself. He ran away from the platform and over to a nearby payphone, but neither Rebecca or her crew noticed this person.

He returned quite soon and boarded, just as the conductor gave the high ball signal and shouted 'All Aboard!' Niki pulled on the whistle chain twice and within moments, the train was underway.

"Slow and gentle," Rebecca said to herself. In her old days, she used to pull either passenger or freight trains, and often had to remind herself of which way to do the job. Thankfully, the ride out of the station was smooth. Not one passenger was jerked in the coaches.

"I suppose this freight engine does know how to handle us," said the middle coach.

"Perhaps, but I still don't like the situation," grumbled the first coach.

Rebecca ignored them and carried on.

The journey itself was a smooth one and at the speed they were going, the passengers had no trouble seeing all the sights outside. They were enjoying themselves, except for one. The man who overheard the conversation.

All too soon, they were nearing the outskirts of the town of McGinnis. But just when they thought the run would be completely perfect, Rebecca noticed something up ahead. It seemed to be on the tracks.

"Slow down!" she cried. "Something's up ahead!"

"What in tarnation?!" cried Niki. She went to the brake handle and slowed the train down gently. As they got closer, the crew and Rebecca could see what the 'something' was. "You have to be kidding me, what are 'em fools doing on the tracks?"

Up ahead, there was a large crowd of people with big signs. They read 'Don't Scrap'. The people were shouting too and they were saying 'Don't Scrap the Steamers! Don't Scrap the Steamers'."

"Don't Scrap the Steamers? But I'm not going for scrap, where did these guys get the idea that I'm going for scrap?" Rebecca asked in complete surprise.

Neither one of her crew members could answer the question, but they knew one thing, these people were stopping them from getting to the railroad station in McGinnis.

"Come on people, move! We got a passenger train to bring in!" shouted Niki. She pulled on the whistle chain, and blew the whistle loud and long. Nothing happened. Rebecca wheeshed steam from the cylinders, but still they wouldn't move. Police officers in the town tried to speak with the protesters, but they just ignored the officers, even when they threatened to arrest them for trespassing.

"We want to see the manager! We won't move till we see this manager!" shouted the people in the crowd.

"Fine, they wish to speak with Robert, we'll get Robert out here," sighed Niki.

In the workshops, Robert was helping Mr Mason and the crew to fix 5334's damaged boiler. As they worked, they heard a voice from the radio, _"this is Niki calling Robert, come in Robert."_

Robert climbed down from the ladder he was on and grabbed the radio, "this is Robert, how's the run Niki?"

 _"Not going smoothly, listen to this."_ Robert and all the workers could hear loud shouts over the radio. _"Protesters are blocking the line and won't move until you come here to speak with them."_

Robert sighed, "fine, I'll be there shortly with Carrie."

"This is railroad property," shouted the police chief of the McGinnis police force, "you are trespassing and endangering yourselves, so please move away from the tracks!"

"No! No! We won't go! Don't scrap the steamers! Don't scrap the steamers!"

"Stubborn bunch aren't they?" groaned Rebecca.

Many of the passengers on board the train tried to reason with the protesters, but again the words fell on deaf ears.

Finally, some time later, Carrie arrived with the track laying train and Robert in her cab. He was surprised at the sight that greeted him, "I can't believe this," he sighed.

He climbed down and walked over to Rebecca's front end. "Can I have your attention please?" But the crowds kept shouting. Robert groaned and shouted, "whistle now!" Both engineers blew the whistles, which silenced the protesters. Robert gave thumbs up to the two engineers, to which he got thumbs up from them. "Now," he shouted to the crowd, "what is this all about?"

"We heard these steam engines were going for scrap, and we can't allow that!" shouted a protester.

"Going for scrap? Where did you hear such garbage? Who started that?"

A man stepped down from the passenger train and over to the front of Rebecca, "I did. I overheard the crew of 2578 here say that steam powered passenger trains will soon be a thing of the past, which means only one thing. These engines are going for scrap."

The protesters started up again. Both locomotives blew their whistles to silence them.

"Thank you again engines," smiled Robert, then he looked to Wendy and Niki, "did you say something like that?"

"I only said that steam powered passenger trains on the mainland are going to become a thing of the past," said Wendy. "I never said anything about our passenger trains becoming dieselized."

"It's true Robert, I heard every word perfectly," said Rebecca.

"So, these engines are not going for scrap?" asked the man from the train.

"No, they are not. In fact, the Freedom Railroad's goal is to buy steam locomotives and give them a new lease of life," said Robert. "Thus allowing them to pull freight trains and passenger trains whenever they're needed. Plus we just started this railroad, so why would we want to scrap our newest additions? It doesn't make sense if you ask me."

"Oh," said the man, feeling really stupid.

"You idiot! Next time listen more carefully!" snapped another protester.

"Next time, if you got questions, bring it to the office, don't hold up the main line," Robert said firmly. He narrowed his eyebrows, "speaking of which, you protesters are holding up our first passenger train, so unless you want me to ask for both Shannon and McGinnis police officers to arrest you, please move away from the tracks!"

This time the protesters listened and moved out of the way. With the tracks now clear, Rebecca could finally carry on her way and so could Carrie with her train. But both locomotives hoped in future that these people from the Mainland would learn to listen before taking action.


	8. Book 2 Story 4-Taking a Risk

_**Taking a Risk**_

Despite the protesters stopping the first passenger train, passenger services proved to be successful on the line and the passengers all promised to recommand the railroad to any one who wished to ride behind steam locomotives. This pleased Rebecca, Carrie and the workers of the Freedom Railroad. However, there was still one issue to deal with, 5334 and his determined attitude.

"I hope he doesn't break himself to pieces again," Rebecca said one morning to Carrie. "He's done that in America, and here. Granted you and I argued, but we never rushed around to the point of breaking ourselves up."

"True, but a loose siderod can happen to any engine," said Carrie. "I'm sure given some time, 5334 will prove his reliablity to the railroad."

As if on cue, the engine of their discussion came rolling up to the turntable. He stopped on the table and turned to face them. At the same time, Robert arrived with a firm look on his face.

"Well 5334, it's good to see you back in steam again. However," he added, "your incident cost us a great deal of money, which we could've used to buy another locomotive on the verge of being scrapped. We can't make it though if you're breaking yourself up." 5334 looked down sadly to the ground. Robert took in a deep breath and calmed himself down, "I can see you're sorry though, and I will give you another chance. If you can work with Mr Ingram and the track laying crew without incident, then you will become a permanet part of the fleet. If not, you will be going to the town of McKenna's railroad museum for the rest of your life."

"I'll try my best Robert Sir," 5334 said nervously.

"I sure hope so." He then turned to address the other two locomotives, "as I'm sure you engines are aware, the town of McGinnis will soon be opening up a new lumber mill. Before operations begin though, they'll need a way to bring the logs to their mill. As such, we and another company will be competing for the contract. Now, which one of you two would like to take the log train?"

"I'll take it Robert," said Carrie. "I've always wanted to try my wheels at being a logging engine, because it looked like a fun job to do."

"Very well then Carrie, the job is yours, but take note," he added, "the other company competing will be the McKenna truck company, and they usually fight dirty as we learned during construction of our yards. So remember this, don't take any guff from them and don't strain yourself, logs can be quite heavy and dangerous to work with."

"I'll keep that in mind Robert," smiled Carrie.

"Good, and Rebecca, you will be in charge of the passenger services unless cargo comes in, then you'll be doing mixed train services. Now good luck out there, and do your best."

5334 was turned round and puffed over to the yards to collect his train. As he was being coupled up, he overheard workers talking about him, and it wasn't very nice to hear.

"I don't see why Robert is keeping that Hudson, he's already damaged himself on the line, and it was his own determination that got him where he was in America," said one.

"I agree with Robert in saving engines, but maybe this one should just consider going into a museum."

Hearing them upsetted 5334. His engineer spoke to him, "I wouldn't take any notice of anyone like that if I were you. Sure your determination has gotten you into trouble, but it's not to say it can't help when it's needed."

"If you say so, uh...?"

"Brock, you can call me Brock," said the engineer. "And your fireman is named Michael. We're always here for you."

That cheered 5334 up a little bit, but he was still worried about his placement.

Outside the town of McKenna was a big forest. While the lines have not reached the town yet, they did go into the forest for just in case they ever did pick up business with lumber mills. As Carrie arrived with her empty flatbeds, she was amazed by the trees around her. There were some tall pine trees, but there were some trees she had never seen before like Jobi trees from Japan.

"Whoever planted this forest certainly has travelled the world," said Jackie; Carrie's engineer. "This is amazing."

As they came to a stop though, they heard a loud honking from behind them. Carrie looked to her right and saw one of McKenna's logging trucks coming up beside her.

"Oh this is just sad, a stupid railroad trying to take the contract," grumbled the truck. "Why don't do us a favour and dump yourself in the water? Maybe then we can continue with our work in peace."

Carrie ignored the truck. Unlike 5334, she was not going to take any nonsense from them.

"So much for _everyone_ wanting us on the island," but she thought it only to herself.

A front end loader had been waiting for the two arrivals and eagerly sprang into life. She was a cheerful little machine named Madison, "Good morning you two, lovely day for work don't you think? Personally, I love all kinds of weather. Rain, snow, sunshine, even hail doesn't bother me."

Carrie chuckled, "do you always talk fast?"

"Not really, only when I'm cheerful." She laughed at that moment, "which I guess is all the time, so yeah I guess I do talk fast all the time."

The logging truck snorted, "typical happiness, it makes me sick. There's nothing wrong with being grumpy, it's better than being in a children's book with rainbows and pretty flowers."

"Boy are you ever a little ray of sunshine," grumbled Madison. Then she perked up, "never mind, once you're loaded up, you'll cheer up."

"Then make it fast Girl! I want to leave as soon as possible and beat the stuffings out of that so called Freedom Railroad."

"Sorry, but my orders are clear. Load up the wagons first, then it'll be your turn."

The logging truck groaned, "oh for pete's sake." His Driver was angry too, but then he came up with a sneaky idea. He put his truck into reverse and drove him away from Carrie's side.

"Why did you do that?" he asked in suprise.

The Driver chuckled as he climbed down and whispered his plan to the truck, who chuckled with a nasty grin, "that'll derail them good and proper."

The line Carrie was on went uphill, which meant her brakes had to be fully on to keep herself and her train from going back down. The truck Driver's nasty plan involved using the hill. When no one was looking, he went to Carrie's back end and loosened the coupling. He then went back to his truck, "just wait for a few logs to be put in, then we'll strike."

"I like the way you think."

They waited till Madison had nearly finished loading up the third flatbed, then they struck. Stomping down on the gas, the truck charged at the flatbeds and bumped them.

"Hey, what do you think you're..."

CLUNK! SNAP!

Carrie's eyes popped wide open in surprise as she realised what was going on. Jackie looked back and saw the flatbeds rolling away, and seeing the truck and his Driver laughing.

"Try beating our company now," chuckled the truck rudely.

Madison was shocked, but Carrie and her crew were annoyed, "you daft idiots!" shouted Carrie, "without us at the front and that many logs on board, that train is a disaster just waiting to happen."

"Yeah, a disaster for you," snickered the truck driver.

"Oh really?" called Jackie. "And just imagine will you of what will happen if those cars smash into any business you serve. Will you still be cheering then?"

That silenced the two of them.

Jackie got on the radio and called the conductor in the caboose, "apply your brakes and try to slow the train down!" Then she called out to the main office, "we have a runaway. I repeat, we have a runaway!"

5334 was in his siding while Jack Ingram and the track laying team unloaded his cars. He was simmering quietly and listening to them, but not for long. _"Robert, do you hear me? Come in Robert! We have a runaway train!"_

 _"I hear you Jackie,"_ came the reply, _"how did that happen?"_

 _"Stupid truck company, but if that train isn't stopped soon, it will cause damage in McGinnis, Shannon or worse, in the yards."_

5334 gulped when he heard that. Then an idea came to him, "maybe we can try to stop the train," he said to his crew. Both crew members looked to him surprised, "I know it means taking another risk, and just after I got out of the shops, but think of the people in those towns, or the workers in the yards."

Brock and Michael didn't want to think on what could happen, so they agreed to try. Michael climbed down and uncoupled 5334 from the train.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Mr Ingram.

"Sir, look!" cried a worker.

Mr Ingram looked and saw nine flatbeds and a caboose rolling by with no engine. Worst still, they were going at a high speed. Then he saw 5334 backing out of the siding, and right away knew what they were doing. He climbed down from his crane and over to the cab, "I don't know how much help I can be," he said.

"You can keep the fire going and Michael can climb onto the back of my tender," said 5334. "I need someone to keep an eye on the gap between us and the train."

Wasting no time, Mr Ingram went to work as fireman while Michael climbed up the coal pile and to the top of the tender.

The train blasted right through the town of McGinnis, startling many of the residants. One car narrowly missed getting hit, "yikes, that could've ugly," said the car's driver.

The residants of the town then heard a whistle. They looked to see 5334 blasting through, picking up speed in pursuit.

"We'll catch that train, nothing's getting destoryed today, not on my watch," he said with determination.

Rebecca had to go into a siding outside the town as the train rocketed past. Passengers looked on in surprise.

"Go get 'em!" Rebecca called as 5334 raced past.

Directed by the fireman, the engineer increased the speed a bit more till the couplers nearly touched. The fireman climbed down to adjust the tender coupling, nearly falling off in the process, but soon called out, "couple up!" And with a clunk, they did. The fireman climbed up to the top of the tender and shouted, "Brakes now!"

The Engineer slammed on the brakes, and 5334 put in everything he had to slow the train down.

"Come on, come on! Stop, Stop, Stop!" he grunted through his teeth.

Sparks showered from the rails, but at first, it seemed like the train wasn't slowing down. After a minute and a half though, and with some help from the caboose, it did and soon came to a grinding hault.

"Whew!" gasped Mr Ingram, "We did it!"

"Yes, and that was some fine shovelling you did during the chase Jack," smiled Brock.

Suddenly, they heard a loud clunk. The engineer looked out and groaned, "your brake blocks have failed. You can't go anywhere on your own anymore."

5334 groaned, "and there goes my life on the railroad. Museum, here I come."

Rebecca had to be called to take 5334 and the log train back to the town of McGinnis. Once they arrived, and the cars left at the mill, Carrie took him back to the shops.

No worker said a word to him as they went to work on him again.

Thankfully they didn't need to work on him for too long and he was allowed to go back to the sheds in a matter of days. He puffed up, expecting to see angry faces, but instead was cheered to the echo by everyone there. The two locomotives, crews and workers of the railroad itself, and even Robert were cheering.

"I don't understand, why is everyone cheering?" he asked. "I mean, I left my job, took a risk and damaged myself once more. Shouldn't I be getting ready to go to the museum?"

"Not at all 5334, you're not going to a museum," said Robert as he stepped forward. "While it's true you left your job and damaged yourself once more, you weren't trying to prove yourself, you were doing it for the sake of others. When a locomotive shows that they're thinking of others, even at the expanse of their own brakes, then they more than prove themselves to be a reliable loco for the fleet."

"You're a real hero," cheered a worker, which happened to be the first one who insulted 5334 before in the yards.

This was met with more cheers and whistles from everyone. 5334 blushed hearing them say such things about him.

"And thanks to you," added Robert, "our log delivery was saved, and the logging company in the town of McGinnis has agreed to give us the contract." Robert chuckled and added, "as for the truck company, well they're getting quite an earful from the police for their actions, especially since Madison saw them push Carrie's freight cars away."

"Jerks," muttered Carrie, but was quickly hushed by Rebecca.

"No it's okay Rebecca, it's justified," said Wendy.

Robert nodded, then turned back to 5334, "now, since you are going to be an official member of this team, it's high time we gave you a name."

"And we do have one," he continued. "As requested of the mill owner, he would like us to name you after his son, who's brave in the face of danger. He wants us to call you Andrew. What do you think of that?"

5334 smiled, "I like the name, I'll take it."

"Very well, Andrew it is."

"Robert," called Carrie, "what does the mill owner's son actually do?"

"He's a firefighter," he answered. The engines and the workers all nodded in approval of the name. Robert wasn't done though as he had one more annoucement to make. "Before coming here, I had just finished a transaction over the phone to get a new locomotive. He will be arriving from the California Western, and considering we now have a logging contract, I could think of no better engine to help us out. He'll be arriving in a few days timing."

This annoucement was met with more cheers and whistles. It created quite a noise. 5334, now known as Andrew just smiled and sighed happily. His worrying thoughts were now gone, and in their place were questions about what else to expect in the future. Only time would tell.

 _ **The End!**_

 _Well fans, that's it for the second volume, and honestly, I'm quite happy to have included an NYC Hudson to the Freedom Railroad's fleet. It's a shame none were preserved, but at least we have miniature railway and model train versions to remind us of what the Hudsons were like, and we can hope that one day we'll see a new Hudson roll down the rails of New York Central. Now as stated, the next loco is a California Western loco, and is a requested engine, but the loco's name and class will be a secret till the third book is ready for posting._

 _Also, one thing I wish to point out is that yesterday, I learned of yet another engine who sadly was cut up before being given a chance in preservation. Scrapped in 1958 was Northern Pacific 2626, and in case you're wondering, I learned of the locomotive in Trains Magazine. Will I bring this loco into the series? Well only time will tell. Till next time, thank you for reading and if you have anymore locomotives you wish to see that never got a chance to see preservation, let me know. British style engines are welcome too since there is going to be a museum in McKenna._


	9. Book 3 Story 1-Fire Season

Wow, I can't believe how long it took to get this book written up, but here is book 3 and for the first time, it's got a requested locomotive. When the Railroad Stories first came out earlier this year, Monroejeffrey949 asked me if I could bring in a locomotive that's in the same class as California Western's No 46. Though the railroad never had a Number 47, as that's the number of the engine, I figured since this is a fan-made series, we can pretend they did. Now the _main_ reason for the delay was all the research on the line of the California Western as this book will take place on the railroad itself. Try as I might, I'm not sure if I got all the information correct on the line itself, so I did miss something or got something wrong, sorry, don't be mad at me. Plus this is a line I've never gone to before, so all I could do was look up info on it. Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I want to say that originally the idea was for this book to be posted in September or October, yet it's November when it gets posted. Oh well, better late than never right? As for the fourth book, I am working on it and it will feature another requested engine. Remember, if you got a locomotive that sadly went to the scrapyards in the 1950s and never came out, and would love to see return, then send me a message and tell of the locomotive, including when it was scrapped.

 _ **The Railroad Stories**_

 _ **Book 3: Warren the Logging Engine**_

 _ **Warren was created by: Monroejeffrey949/Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Greeting Readers,

 _In the last book, Robert made mention of a new engine being bought for the Freedom Railroad and would mostly be handling the log trains coming from the McKenna Forest. When I went to speak with Warren, he told me that apart from the restoration, there really wasn't much excitment from his first days on the railroad. However, he did tell me about the work he used to do for the California Western and how he came to be part of the Freedom's fleet. They were too good to pass up, so I wrote them down and now I'm sharing them with you. Hope you'll enjoy reading about this logging engine that's different from many others._

The Author

 _This book is dedicated to Warren John Curry, (a loving husband, father and grandfather.) Dec. 5th 1930-October 28th 2003_

 _This book is also dedicated to Monroejeffrey949 for his request on the engine_

Stories Included:

-Fire Season

-Heat and Brakes

-Going Insane

-The Silving Lining

 _ **Fire Season**_

In Mendocino County, California lays a logging railroad that runs through Redwood forests along Pudding Creek and the Noyo River for about 64 kiometres. It's a line that has at least 30 bridges and trestles, and runs through two deep mountain tunnels. The line supplies wood in Fort Bragg for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. It also carries passengers and in this day and age, the line runs with both steam and diesel.

Years ago however, the line operated with only steam engines, but it wasn't like many logging railroads. Oh sure it had a few Shays in the fleet, but it also had a fair number of tank engines and tender engines pulling long trains of flatbeds. One of the biggest were the engines with two front wheels, followed by two pairs of six driving wheels and finally two wheels right behind them.

The California Western had two engines of this class; No 46 and No 47, whose was called Warren, named by his engineer. Warren is a kind hearted engine with an Irish dialect. He was never afraid to take on the jobs the line had, and he never let his strength and power go to his head.

It was May 1948 and Warren was backing down on a train of flatbeds needed to be reloaded. As he was slowing to a stop, he spotted Shay #2 in a siding nearby.

"Top o' the morning to you Shay, what's the matter?"

"I've been feeling a little stuffed up lately. No matter how hard I puff, I can never seem to get the strength I need to keep going." She sighed unhappily, "if this keeps up, I could very well end up on the scrap heap."

"Don't be silly Shay Darlin', there's plenty of work 'ere to keep you busy, plus..." Warren paused with a sly wink, "where would we 'youngsters' be without you?"

Shay #2 smiled hearing that, "I guess you got a point there Warren. You youngsters would be lost without me around."

The two engines chuckled as Warren's fireman climbed down to couple him up. As he did that, the yard foreman came over and spoke with the other crew members.

"What's going on over here?" the fireman asked Warren's engineer when he came back.

"Oh it's just the foreman reminding us to be careful as today marks the first day of the fire season."

"Oh no, not that time of year again," groaned the fireman. "Fires in the firebox are fine, but when it's outside the firebox..." he paused and shuddered, "that's enough to scare the heck out of me."

"Does it have anythin' to do with that house fire you and your family managed to escape from when you were seven me lad?" Warren asked.

The fireman nodded, he could well remember that day well.

"As long as we keep the funnel cleaned, and no one is foolish to leave a campfire unattended, we'll get through this fire season without any trouble," reassured the engineer. "Now come on Chris, we got to get going, those logs won't move themselves you know."

The fireman chuckled as he climbed back into the cab.

"See you later Shay," said Warren as he blew his whistle to leave, "and don't go thinkin' about retiring anytime soon."

"I won't, as long as you can remember to keep your eyes on the road youngster!" Warren laughed and puffed away down the line.

The fire season was one of the most dreaded seasons of the year as it's during this time that wood, leaves and grass become too dry from the summer sun and in the right conditions, can catch on fire. There had been several close calls during the years, but it was nothing a little water and some stomping from boots couldn't fix.

As he puffed through the forest of Redwood trees, Warren couldn't help but worry for them.

"It wouldn't take much to set these beauties ablaze, and that would be bad me lads," he said to his crew.

"That's why we always keep an eye on your funnel, as well as where you're going," said the engineer. "I wouldn't worry too much about the fire season if I were you. We've been through them all and never have had a serious incident."

"There's always a first time," the fireman said to himself.

Thankfully, there was no need to worry as they got to where they needed to go without any incident. But the fireman's mutter would come true real soon.

Shay #2 was puffing along through the Redwood forest with four flatbeds rattling behind her. Even with a small amount, she was struggling, "I...can't seem...to be...breathing properly."

"Just keep going girl, and you'll have a rest in the yards," her engineer said calmly.

Shay #2 gave it her all, but it seemed the more she puffed, the worst she felt. Then it happened. One moment, she was groaning loudly, the next, something big shot out of her funnel and landed on the ground nearby.

"What in the star spankled banner was that?" asked the fireman.

"I'm not sure," said the engineer. He then noticed the gauges, "but with it gone now, Shay can keep going."

Shay #2 sighed with relief, "I can breathe again, that feels great." But she wouldn't be smiling for long as at that moment, she smelled something off. "Do you two smell something burning?"

"Just the normal smells from your firebox," answered the fireman.

"No, that's not what I meant."

The engineer started sniffing, "hey you're right, there's a strong burning smell coming from close by, but where..." he looked out the cab and gasped, "oh heck no!"

The fireman looked out the cab and gasped to see a redwood tree going up in flames. Reacting quickly, the engineer slammed on the brakes and reversed Shay #2 out of the forest.

"What about Warren and the workers? They could be trapped in there," cried Shay #2.

"We'll phone for the fire services once we're clear of the forest," said the engineer, "now faster Shay, faster."

They hurried away quickly, but the mad rush did more harm than good as it made the flames dance from one tree to another. Now the whole forest was in danger of going up in flames.

Thirty five minutes after the trouble began, Warren was heading back down the line with the flatbeds all loaded. The Baldwin locomotive was humming an Irish song when he saw something odd in the distance.

"Do you two see that?" he asked. "It almost looks like..."

"SMOKE!" the two men cried.

The engineer slammed on the brakes, and the whole train went into a groaning slide. They stopped metres away from the burning trees. By now, there were eight of them up in flames.

"How did this happen?" asked the fireman in shock.

"Never mind that now, we got to go back to the logging station and get the laddies out of there," said Warren. "If this fire spreads, they'll be trapped."

The engineer agreed and quickly reversed the train back down to the station.

The men were surprised to see them return, "Warren, what's going on? You already have enough logs to take back with you."

"We're not here for logs, we're here for you lads," and he quickly explained about the fire. "So please climb onboard, and we'll get you out of here laddies."

The workers didn't need to be told twice. They climbed into the caboose and on the flatbeds of logs, then once they were sure everyone was on board, Warren started off.

When they reached the burning spot, fire trucks were already on the scene and trying to fight the flames, but the fire seemed to have a mind of it's own and jumped from one tree to another to get away from the water.

"Bother these flames," groaned the fire chief. He then noticed Warren and his train. He called out to the firefighters, "spray some water over the tracks, give them some protection from the flames!"

The firemen responded and shot water up and over the tracks. It got Warren, his train and all the workers soaked, but it worked as he dashed through without getting burned whatsoever.

"Blimey that was a close call," gasped Warren.

"You said it best boy, you said it best," sighed the engineer.

It took forty nine minutes, but soon the firefighters managed to put out the blazes and stomp out any remaining embers. This brought about relief to the engines and workers of the railroad.

"I'm sorry Sir," Shay #2 said to the manager, "it was all my fault, something flew out of my funnel and I guess it was still warm, so that's what set the trees on fire."

The manager looked to the fireman, "how come you never saw the object in the funnel?" he asked the fireman.

"I never really noticed it was jammed in there, it always looked normal to me," he answered. "Guess it wasn't, sorry Shay and I'm sorry Sir."

"It's alright, but in future, if Shay #2 is saying she can't breathe properly and you can't see anything in the funnel, use a pole to try and dig it out."

"Yes Sir," said the fireman.

The manager then turned to Warren, "I am impressed with you today, most engines would've just made a dash out of the forest, but you went back to the logging station and got the workers out. Your dedication and loyality to others makes you an undeniable great locomotive."

"Thank you me Sir, I'm just glad we got out of there when we did, otherwise it could've been a tragedy in there."

"And it's certainly something we don't want to think about," said Shay #2. The manager and workers could only agree with them.

 _This story was partly based on previous forest fires like Fort MacMurry in 2016 where flames would jump from one tree to another thanks in part to the wind._


	10. Book 3 Story 2-Heat and Brakes

_**Heat and Brakes**_

The Summer of July 1950 proved to be a hot one, and even more so for the workers and engines of the California Western. Despite this though, they kept on going delivering their logs from the forests and on occassion, taking other freight along the tracks. But still, tempers can flare up, especially when they have to deal with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad.

Since their railroad's opening, the Northwestern Pacific had quite the interesting amount of steam locomotives. They ranged from American class engines all the way to the shays. The latest engines in the fleet were engines with four front wheels and six driving wheels. They had a wide variety of numbers, and considering they were the largest engines on the railroad, they often looked down on others, especially those of the California Western.

One warm morning, even before the sun had come up, Shay #2 was coming to the junction with a log train. Engine 178 was waiting for her, and as usual, looked over to her with a smug look.

"Getting tired are you old girl? Take my advice and go to the scrapyards, since all you're good for is scrap."

"You can insult me all you want, but I'm not going to sink to your level old boy," she said firmly. "I'm just as useful as any engine."

178 snorted, "oh give me a break, you're not that reliable. None of you engines from the Calfornia Western are reliable. If you had more of our class mates, or even our wheel arrangements, you could actually prove yourselves. But you can't, cause all you have are weak useless engines. Now, enough of this chit-chat, give me my cars and get out of my sight."

Shay said no more and once uncoupled, went off to a nearby water tower. 178 chuckled as he was coupled up and took the cars away.

"Young engines these days, they need to learn to show respect," she sighed to her engineer, who nodded in agreement.

Now of course, we know that the California Western does have it's own steam giants, which came in the form of 46 and Warren, but the Northwestern Pacific engines don't see them all that often, so they didn't believe the California Western had any of it's own giants. Still, Shay wasn't going to get into a barging compitation, so she collected some empty flatbeds and went back to the yards.

Upon returning to the yards, Shay found Warren having a small conversation with No 41, an engine from the Sierra Railroad.

"Top of the mornin' Shay, you look like you've been talking with 'em NorthWesterners again."

"I wouldn't call some engine barging about their own fleet a talking session Warren," and she quickly told him and No 41 about 178.

"That's a joke right?" snapped No 41. "I mean come on, we have more powerful engines than they do. Heck, I'm a 2-8-2 and Warren is an articulated engine for crying out loud. If I was there, I'd give that engine a real show of who's better."

"Oi, that's not a good idea me lad, you'd just end up in trouble and who'd look foolish there?"

"Warren's correct," said Shay. "It's better to let an idiot be an idiot, his own words will come back to bite him in the smokebox one day. Besides, no offence old friend, but you don't look fit enough to show off your skills."

No 41 coughed, "it's just the blasted weather getting to me, nothing this old engine can't handle."

"I really hope that's the case, or we'll lose our second 41."

As the day wore on, the heat was becoming unbearable to deal with. Engine crews were told to stop every so often and take a break from working with the engines. After all, the last thing they needed were crew members passing out and the trains run out of control.

When Shay #2 returned to Willits, the connection with the Northwestern Pacific, she found 178 looking smug, "ha! Nothing to it for a strong locomotive like myself, or any engine with my wheel arrangement. Now get off that train and I'll take it to Schellville."

Shay said nothing and was uncoupled. As her engineer uncoupled her, she noticed that 178's crew were checking his brakes over.

"Is everything okay with your brakes?" she asked with concern.

"Oh yeah they're fine, they've just been running hot moreso than usual," smirked 178. "But it's nothing compared to an engine like myself."

But judging from the crew's worried faces, Shay didn't believe 178. "You're not riding your brakes hard are you? In this hot weather, you could easily melt them down to nothing at all."

"Don't be stupid, brakes can't melt, they're made of metal for goodness sakes. Now shut up and get out of my sight."

"Okay fine, you don't want to listen to reason and common sense, I'll let you go on, but don't say I didn't warn you."

In spite of his crew telling him to rest for a bit and cool his brakes down, 178 insisted on showing Shay #2 how much better he was. In the end, they gave up and allowed him to couple up to the flatbeds of logs.

"Melting brakes, what silly garbage comes out of your mouth old timer," chuckled 178.

Shay watched as he puffed away. "He won't make it to Schellville today," she said to her engineer. "I fear he may land himself in trouble." Her engineer and fireman could only agree.

"Melting brakes, whatever next," chuckled 178.

"Well you won't have that problem if you stop riding your brakes hard," retorted the engineer, but 178 payed no attention whatsoever. It would've been better if he had.

He was soon passing Milepost 114 'Ukiah', and here's where the trouble began. He had to slow down hard, but his brakes went hard on again. His engineer tried to ease off the preasure, but 178 refused to pay attention. The friction made between the brake blocks and wheels grew quite hot and without them knowing, at the moment, they started to melt. The fireman thought he saw liquid beside the track, but figured it was just from the injectors.

At Cloverdale 'Milepost 85.2', it happened. They had to slow down here, but to the horror of the engineer, nothing happened. They weren't slowing down.

"Hey, are you going to put my brakes on or not?" snapped 178.

"I'm trying, but they're not working!" He moved the brake handle again and again, but nothing worked. They were still puffing along at their original speed, "Now you've done it, we have no brakes!"

"But..." the rest of 178's speech was cut off.

The hot sun had bent the rails to the point that if a train went over them too fast, they could derail. And that's just what happened. Without warning, 178 began to tilt to the side and with a loud crash, landed on his side and skidded along for a half mile joyride before finally stopping.

The engineer was knocked out cold, but the fireman was still awake. He quickly put the fire out, and hauled the engineer out of the cab.

"You stupid engine, none of this would've happened if you had listened to us," he snapped. 178 payed no attention, he felt he did nothing wrong.

Once the engineer had been awakened, they left for Cloverdale where they phoned the manager. The manager agreed to send track-crews to fix the tracks and send another engine to take the train. As for 178, his own words were; "Leave that loud mouth where he is, we'll pick him up when we're good and ready."

Warren was puffing into the Willits junction with a long train, and tailing at the end was No 41, still a little stuffed up but doing alright.

"Thanks for the help me lad, with the heat and this load, it would've taken longer to get here."

"Don't worry about it Warren, we California Western engines look out for each other right?"

Before Warren could reply, they were greeted by a worker, "I got a call from the manager, you're not going to believe me when I tell you this, but he wants you two to take this train and the original train Shay brought in along the Northwestern Pacific."

"What?!" exclaimed the two locomotives and their crews.

"Us? Are you sure about that?" asked No 41. "We're not Northwestern Pacific engines you know."

"I'm aware of that, but all their other engines are busy and old loud mouth, that's No 178, had managed to melt his brakes and derail himself at Milepost 85.2. You have full permission to go down their line."

So with their long train still coupled between them, Warren and No 41 puffed onto the mainline of the Northwestern Pacific.

"Show 'em what we can do boys!" called the worker, then went off to do other work.

By the time the two locomotives reached Milepost 85.2, the track crews had already replaced the rails and rerailed the cars. No 178 gasped, "where did you two come from?"

"The California Western," answered No 41. "They have do have engines like me there, or Warren, who's articulated by the way."

"Still think we don't have big engines me lad?" Warren asked with a sly eyebrow raised.

No 178 went silent for the first time that day. Still, there was no time to waste. Warren coupled up to the long line of flatbeds and caboose, and slowly but surely, they pushed the massive log train down the tracks.

The yard manager at Schellville was surprised to see Warren and No 41 come in with the log trains.

"Where's No 178? I thought he was supposed to bring in this train."

No 41 paused to get his breath back, then answered, "silly fool jumped...the tracks...at Milepost...85.2. Your manager...asked for us."

Warren did the shunting, then once completed, he coupled up to No 41 and the cabooses, and puffed off back to Willits. Along the way, they passed No 178, who was still laying on his side.

"Oh deary me, I hope they don't leave that old boy there," sighed Warren.

"It'd serve him right if they did," smirked No 41.

No 178 scowled at the two locomotives until they were out of his sight. Now alone, he could do nothing but look at the world from his awkward postion. He thought about his words, and about the engines that just took his trains.

"Darn those California Westerners. One day, I _will_ show them who's the better railroad. One day, I will," he snarled. "Once I get back up."

But it wasn't until the heat wave passed on July 29th 1950 that No 178 was finally rescued. His manager spoke firmly with him, "since you need to learn to become a better engine, I'm sending you to work on the California Western. They will show you how to be a real hard worker."

"Fine, I'll take it," he grumbled under his breath, but he knew he wasn't going to like it.

 _Brakes can actually melt if they are used too long aganist the wheels. Although no event has occured similar to that of the story, the brake blocks melting was partly based on the melted brakes of SP Train 7551 in 1989 before it crashed on Duffy Street._


	11. Book 3 Story 3-Going Insane

_Please note that the following story is not based on real life events, and is a little bit scary for younger readers._

 _ **Going Insane**_

No 178 was soon given new brakes, and after being fixed up, he was sent to work on the California Western. As he pulled into the yards, he found Warren taking on water and No 41 being inspected, "you stupid idiots ruined me, now I have to work on this good for nothing railroad with you sorry losers!"

No 41 stared firmly at him, "it wasn't us that caused your accident, you did that all by yourself. Screeching along the line, and not listening to your crew. I mean, come on, what were you thinking?"

"You dare speak to me like that?" 178 snarled, "Why I ought to..."

"Enough!" snapped a voice. It was the California Western manager, "there will be no further arguments or teasing in this yard." He turned to face No 178, "you're on your last chance No 178, your manager wants you to either shape up or he'll make sure you're shipped out. Now pay attention to the engines, crews and worker's advice and for goodness sakes, no riding on your brakes."

No 178 stared down at the manager, "you can't tell me what to do you useless old man."

The manager looked like he was going to let all his anger blow on No 178. Warren spoke up, "you'd do well to show some respect around me lad, and lucky for you, we'll do all we can to make you see sense."

Hearing Warren say that calmed the manager down, "thank you Warren, I know I can trust all of you." He turned back to No 178, "you're on thin ice No 178, you'd do well to listen to everyone else."

But No 178 took no notice. In fact, as the days wore on, he took no notice of anyone. When workers told him of where to shunt the freight cars, he would ignore them and put them where he wanted them to be, as well as bumping them before stopping. When engines tried to give helpful advice, he would look away or puff away if he could. Crews tried to give him tips on how to interact with his own crew, but he would ignore all of it.

"Oh sure, help the engine who doesn't want the help," grumbled No 41 one evening in the yards. "It's like he thinks he's God all mighty. I mean really, what's it going to take to get through that thick head of his?"

"Patience my young friend," said Shay #2, "we'll find an answer soon enough. Until then, we just can't give up."

No 41 smiled at his old friend, "I sure wish I had your wisdom Shay, it could really help me out in any situation."

Shay #2 smiled. At that moment, No 46, who is Warren's brother, came into the yards with supplies on some flatbeds.

"What's all that for 46?" asked No 41.

"These are for light repair work needed for the bridge over the first crossing of the Noyo River," he answered. "I don't know if any of you had noticed, but that bridge has been creaking moreso than usual. If left unattended, it could collapse and we could fall into the water."

No 41 gulped, "I'd sure hate to go for a swim in that river. Have you told No 178 yet?"

"I tried, but the little engine wouldn't listen. He just looked the other way and stuck up his nose at me."

No 41 rolled his eyes, "like I said, he thinks he's God All Mighty. The engine is quite stupid if you ask me."

Alone in his part of the yards, No 178 was thinking to himself, _"they are the ones that ruined me, they're the ones that got me sent here. They will pay for this, cause no one makes a fool out of this locomotive._ " He thought up ways of how to get back at the engines, and decided to put them into motion.

Over the next few days, he put his plans into motion. While shunting for the other engines, he tried to send his cars flying down the tracks and bump them so hard that they'd get damaged or come off the tracks. Thankfully, the California Western engines knew how to deal with these tricks. They would either reverse and gently let the couplers connect with theirs, or would dash into a siding and let the cars roll off for a short distance. No injuries or disasters happened, but the actions of No 178 did not go un-noticed.

The California Western manager spoke firmly with him and said one more incident would result in a severe punishment. To make matters worse at that moment, his own manager had been in the yards after being told of the attacks on the other engines.

"Boy, I hate to be you right now," said No 41.

After the attacks on the engines, the manager decided to put No 178 on pulling log trains to the junction with the Northwestern Pacific. On his first day, he proudly pulled the cars there, but on the journey back, he was grumbling. He had been teased and one engine even called him 'The Most embarrassing engine in the world'.

"Most embarrassing engine am I?" he snarled under his breath. "I'll show them, I'll show them all." He then began to make his worst plan yet.

The next morning, it was sunny without a cloud in the sky. Shay #2 was in the yards collecting some cars to take to the junction with the Northwestern Pacific. No 178 was nearby with a log train already coupled up.

"Well, someone seems eager to get out of the yard," she smiled. "Care to go first young engine?"

"No, I insist you go first. But tell me, where is No 41?"

"Oh he's up the line right now. He's taken some cars of supplies to the bridge."

No 178 smirked to himself, _"perfect,"_ he thought, _"now I'll kill two birds with one stone, or should I say, with one train?_ " And he cackled quietly to himself.

Shay #2 did hear some cackling, but thought nothing of it. Once ready, she blew her whistle and puffed off for the bridge. No 178 followed close behind. He passed Warren being oiled for the day's work, and gave a sinister look to him.

"What's the young laddie up to now?" he asked out loud.

His engineer had seen the look too, "I don't know Warren, but I got a bad feeling about this."

Soon, Shay #2 was approaching the bridge. Coming up to it, Shay would blow her whistle, which would give No 41 enough time to get off the bridge and into a siding out of the way. But they wouldn't get that chance. No 178 had observed everything over the last few days, and waited for the right moment.

"Uh 178, are you alright?" asked his engineer. "You're being quiet today, which is not like you."

"Oh I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine," he muttered under his breath.

He waited for the right moment, then just as Shay #2 was about to blow the whistle, he struck. Much to the alarm of his crew, he puffed faster down the line and bumped into the back of Shay #2's train.

"Oof!" she cried. "What are you doing back there?" But she got no reply.

Fearing that No 178 would do something so terrible, Warren and his crew got the manager and puffed on down the tracks, "if that engine is up to something, then we'll put a stop to it," he said firmly.

"I only hope me engineer is wrong about his gut feeling Sir," groaned Warren.

"Me too old boy, me too," muttered the engineer.

But he wasn't. No 178 pushed Shay #2 even faster down the line, and that was in spite of the brakes coming on in the cabooses and Shay's crew applying her brakes.

"Stop it, you're going to push me off the tracks!" Shay cried.

No 178 cackled, "that's the idea. Won't be long now."

No 41 knew nothing about the crazed engine pushing Shay, until his fireman looked behind them and saw clouds of smoke and steam. He climbed onto the tender to have a better look, and that's when he saw them.

"41, look out!" cried Shay, but it was too late.

Warren was hurrying down the line, but as he got close to the bridge, the area was filled with the sounds of a horrific crash, followed by screams and a loud splash.

"Oh no, we're too late!" cried Warren.

When they reached the area, they could hear sinister laughter, "make me into a fool eh? Well now you're the fools, wet fools," and No 178 burst out into laughter.

The California Western manager jumped down from Warren's cab and ran towards No 178. When he got to the front, he saw the locomotive laughing, and he saw two damaged locomotives in the creek below.

"What have you done?" he snapped at No 178.

"I got 'em, I got 'em all. That'll show this stupid railroad how useless they are, and how stupid it is to make a fool out of me." He didn't even seem to notice the manager.

The manager ran back to Warren's cab, "get this stupid engine out of here, and tell the crews to get supplies. We'll need to perform some rescue missions."

Warren didn't need telling twice, he hauled the cackling steam engine away and hurried back to the yards as quickly as he could.

By nightfall, only two people were pulled from the river alive. It was Shay's fireman and 41's engineer. The others did not make it. As for the locomotives themselves, they sat on flatbeds, all smashed up and broken. Workers looked them over, but when they finished, they looked depressed.

"Can they be saved?" Warren asked.

The foreman of the group shook his head, "afraid not, they were smashed and bashed all over the place, it's lucky they didn't explode. I'm afraid that with the damage done, these engines can't be fixed. They'll have to go to the scrap yards."

Shay #2 sighed unhappily, "so this is how it ends, taken out by a mad engine."

No 41 coughed as he looked across the yard, "he's responsible for the deaths and for us falling, I hope he gets what's coming to him."

And indeed he would. The California Western manager had spoken firmly with him, and once told of the sitation, the Northwestern Pacific manager gave him quite the scolding.

"I always said you were too big for your wheels, but to do something so stupid like this, I thought you'd know better than that! Clearly though, I was wrong."

"But they..."

"Don't you say it was justified to pull something so stupid! You are the dumbest, most pathetic engine we've ever had in the fleet! I sent you here to learn to become a better engine, not to do something like this."

"Well I didn't want to be here."

The California Western manager couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was about to give the locomotive a piece of his mind, but the Northwestern Pacific manager beat him to the punch.

"Oh don't worry my friend, you won't be staying here anymore. In fact, you'll be coming back to the yards tomorrow."

No 178 smirked, "excellent. I'll take on the first train tomorrow." He seemed rather pleased with himself, but not for long.

"Oh, but you won't be taking that train, or any other train on our line. If anything, we're finally going to put you to good use."

No 178 gulped, "Sir, what do you plan to do with me?"

"You will be taken back to the yards, and as time will go on, you'll be taken apart and all your parts will go to the other engines." He stared firmly at the locomotive, "and _you_ will show the other misbehaving engines of what happens when you do something so stupid."

"But you can't, I'm..."

"You were told you were on thin ice 178, and now you're sinking. You should've thought of your actions, but now it's too late for you." The managers left to attend to the ruined engines, leaving No 178 alone in the siding with his fire dropped.

The crew spoke with the manager, "we tried to stop him, but it was like he was being controlled by someone else."

"It's alright, I understand you tried to stop him. I'm afraid though, there are no other locomotives you can drive for right now, so I'll have to let you go for a while. If any new jobs come up, we'll call you."

"Yes sir," sighed the two men. They cursed at their engine, then walked away.

A week later, Warren was brought back to the bridge for a funeral service. Both No 41 and Shay #2 had been taken away to the scrap yards three days before, and the bodies had been found and buried in proper graves.

"No 41, Shay #2 and the four men involved in this incident were good kind hard workers. They will long be remembered for their services to the railroad, the good advice they gave and their determination to never give up, in spite of some engine's behaviours. We shall miss them."

As people dropped the flowers off the bridge, Warren gave off a special whistle salute before a tear rolled down his cheek and landed on his cowcatcher. It was indeed a sad day for the California Western.

The manager of the Northwestern Pacific was as good as his word though as No 178 was taken to pieces. His parts went to other engines and by 1954, the engine was no more.

 _The events in this story are not true as this sort of accident never happened on the California Western. Though Shay #2 and No 41 were scrapped in 1950 while No 178 was scrapped in 1954._


	12. Book 3 Story 4-The Silver Lining

Well readers, this is it, the last story for book 3 'Warren the Logging Engine'. It was quite interesting to write, but at the same time, difficult as I had said before, I'm not too familar with the California Western. Still, it was interesting to write up, and before anyone asks, the next book will have us returning to the Island to see the Freedom Fleet and maybe see some interesting surprises, but that's all I'll say for now as I don't want to give away spoilers. And don't ask for spoilers, cause I won't give away any. I will say though that another requested engine will be coming in next time. Now, before we get into the story, I would to ask for those who haven't replied to my journals on DeviantART, would you the readers love to see this series of stories become a series of Audio books, much like the Railway Series? If so, then in 2018, you'll be seeing them on youtube with illustrations (Hopefully) and on Soundcloud. I look forward to hearing your responses to that question. Anyhow, like always, if you have locomotives that are lost to history, but you would love to see in here, you can always them as a suggestion either in reviews or PM me. (sighs) Now I'm done writing this message, here's the story.

 _ **The Silver Lining**_

As summer 1956 approached, things were not looking good for the California Western. Money was being lost due to logging trucks taking over many of their jobs, and while No 178's attack on the railroad did not drive away costumers, the rough tracks did. The bridges over the Noyo rivers were the worst parts of the line and if not repaired soon, the line would have no chance of surviving into the next decade.

"Dang those stupid trucks, they're always trying to take our work away from us," grumbled #17, a tank engine with two front wheels, six driving wheels and two back wheels. "I wish Shay was still here, I'm sure she'd come up with some ideas to help us."

The yard went quiet after hearing that.

"She would be here, had it not been for that stupid No 178," grumbled No 46. "Why if I had the chance, I'd bash him into a few dozen pieces."

"Come on me brother, anger won't help us now," Warren said calmly. "Besides, No 178 got more than enough of a punishment remember? Last we heard, his last parts were taken away to the smelter's yard as of 1954."

"Besides, it's not like 178 has cursed us," said engine 38, a tender engine from the Southern Railroad with four front wheels and six driving wheels. "It's just business is slow for us, especially with the condition of the track right now. We just got to hope management will find the money from somewhere and we'll have our line smoothened out, ready to take back our rightful place in the world."

"If that's even possible now," sighed No 46. "Of course, we'd have the money if management didn't buy those diesels."

To keep up with modern times, the manager had agreed to buy new diesel engines to help with log trains and even passenger trains. Engines like the DS4-4-750s and S-12s were brought in and while they proved their value, the purchases were met with less money for maintenace. As a result, speed limits were put into place to prevent derailments over bad tracks and the engines had to take smaller loads.

"I feel sorry for you guys," said No 141 to Warren. This one was a much kinder engine on the Northwestern Pacific, "it doesn't seem right to simply buy new locomotives when you have perfectly good ones."

"Aye it's true me lad, but I guess everyone moves on with the times."

No 141 had to agree, "that would explain why my manager has been buying diesels, and why I'm on the chopping block. Though I'm not bothered by that."

Warren raised an eyebrow at this, "you're not, care to explain me lad?"

"Cause I know the new diesels will make sure our line continues on for years to come." His expression changed from a smile to a frown, "but it'll hurt me knowing if our two lines are not working in co-operation in the future."

Warren sighed, "yeah it'd hurt me too."

Just then, a whistle was blown, "whoops, there's my conductor's whistle, got to be off. Don't worry Warren, things can only get better from here." And with that, he puffed away.

"One can hope boy-o."

"Come on old boy, time we were off too," sighed the Engineer. He opened the regulator, blew the whistle and Warren puffed off back to the yards.

At the same time, a man was walking through the forest after getting a disappointing lead. The man was Mister Ryan Edwards, an employee of the Freedom Railroad who was in charge of a small group in California to find and buy up steam locomotives for a second lease of life. The lead he had been given was a number of steamers at the Western Pacific, but they wanted nothing to do with him.

" _The meet could've gotten better other than 'get off our property', which was followed by all kinds of curse words,_ " he thought to himself. " _Then again, I was talking to a yard manager, I'm sure the actual manager of the railroad would've given me a chance to speak._ " BANG! Mr Edwards groaned as his left foot hit something hard and metal, "what in the world...train tracks?"

Sure enough, Mister Edwards had found train tracks. After getting over the pain in his foot, he decided to look up and down the tracks to see if a train was coming.

"With luck, I just might find a Shay or Climax engine," he said to himself.

A few minutes passed before a train did come into view. It swayed a bit due to the bad conditioned tracks, but in this case, it was a good thing for Mister Edwards as he got a good look at the engine, "an articulated? California Western?"

Warren puffed past the man without any thought. After all, he and the other engines were used to seeing people walking in the woods.

When he got back to town, Mister Edwards phoned Robert and told him about the locomotive, "it has two front wheels, two pairs of six driving wheels and two back wheels, and it's a logging engine. Just what we need for the McKenna Logging contract."

" _If we get it,"_ came the reply of Robert on the other end, " _and if we don't, we won't be able to get another engine, considering we've had to use alot of money on 5334's repairs. Keep an eye on that railroad and that engine though, and I'll let you know if there are any changes."_

"As you wish Sir," said Mister Edwards, though he was a bit worried. What if they didn't get enough money in time? This engine could slip through their net, sort to speak and be lost forever.

Following his boss' orders, Mister Edwards spent the next few days watching over the railroad and even speaking with one or two engines about No 47 'Warren'. "Oh yeah, he's one of the best engines we have here," they would say to him. "He's so wise, kind and helpful. He'd happily give up his own wheels for another engine if he had to. Plus he's one of two for his class."

Then one day, when Mister Edwards returned back to his hotel, he recieved a message from the front desk.

"I got a telegraph message from your manager; Robert Gagnon, and he says the line can now afford that engine you've been following."

Mister Edwards was so pleased to hear that news that he turned and ran back to his nearby rental car. He didn't even care he was tired from his long day out, he wanted to speak with the manager of the California Western. Not later, but now!

He arrived at the yards just as Warren returned with an empty flatbed train.

"Good evening," he called to the engines and crews, "where may I find your manager?"

Before anyone could answer, a voice piped up, "right here good Sir, now what can I do for you?"

"I'm here on behalf of the Freedom Railroad, and we have interest in one of your locomotives. Namely, No 47 'Warren' over there," Mister Edwards said as he pointed to the big steam engine.

Warren's eyes popped wide open in disbelief, "your railroad wants me?"

"Yes indeed," nodded Mister Edwards.

The manager walked up to Mister Edwards, "come with me then Sir, we'll talk in my office."

The two men walked away. The engines just stared in disbelief, "they can't sell you," retorted No 38, "our line needs you Warren. Without you, we don't stand a chance aganist the trucks and other companies who want to take business away from us."

"It might actually be a good thing," said No 17. "The money from his sale could help with improvements to the line."

"What are you stupid? We can't just give up our friend like that! I say no Deal!"

After thirty minutes of talking, the manager and Mister Edwards came out to speak with the engines. The manager spoke first, "I know you engines are shocked and refuse to let go of a friend..."

"Not just a friend, but a family member," retorted No 38.

"I understand your feelings, but there is something you engines have to know. We barely have enough money to keep the railroad going. In spite of all the hard work you do, if we don't come up with a good profit by the end of the next month, we won't make it to Christmas. Heck, we won't make to Halloween."

The engines gulped hearing that.

"However, I have been speaking with both Mister Edwards and the manager of the Freedom Railroad over the phone, and they say they can offer us alot of money for Warren's sale, and to also help keep our line running for years to come."

"It's still no deal," snapped No 38. "We need Warren, they can go find another engine."

"You would even say no to our last chance to save the railroad?" the manager asked in surprise.

"If it means not saying good bye to one of our own, then yes."

Warren spoke softly to his friend, "now come on 38, think on what you're saying. If our line goes under, we're all doomed for the scrap heap, and that's far worse than saying good bye to just one member of this railway. If Shay was here today, she'd tell you the same thing."

"But..."

"I know it's hard, but I think this is the silver lining we've been waiting for. I rather work somewhere else and know you all are safe for years to come, rather than disappearing into the scrap yards."

"So, you really want to do this, eh Warren?" asked his manager.

Warren took in a deep breath and answered, "yes I do. For my family."

No 38 shedded some tears, "if it were my choice, I'd keep saying no, but it's not my choice, it's yours. I respect your choice Warren, thank you, and when you get to your new railroad, make sure to never forget all you were taught and everything we've ever been through."

"And don't forget us," added No 46.

"I won't ever forget you all, I can promise you that me lads and lasses."

Mister Edwards walked up to Warren, "that was wonderfully said, and now I would like to offically say, welcome to the Freedom Family my friend. We'll give you a full day to say your good-byes, then I'll meet you at the junction on the Southern Pacific."

Mister Edwards turned and walked off back to his rental car. In spite of everything he had been seeing and hearing, not all railroads were that keen on getting rid of steam in favor of diesels.

As he did his jobs the next day, Warren said some kind words to all his friends and family of the California Western. Some of them were left in tears, but were happy none the less. Finally came the evening when he was to leave the railroad and make his way to the Southern Pacific.

"Warren, you've given us many great years of hard work, and we couldn't be more proud to call you a California Western engine. You will be missed around here, especially by your own brother." The manager paused as he chuckled, "and we wish you the best of luck in your new home."

"Thank you Sir, I'll do my best with the lads and lassies over on the Freedom line."

The engines all gave him friendly salutes, the crews cheered and waved American flags. Then with a blast of his whistle, Warren puffed out of the yards for the last time, carrying only a caboose behind him. Along the way, he spoke with his crew as they would not be going with him. They talked about happy times, sad times and somewhat average times until they finally reached the Southern Pacific and found Mister Edwards waiting for them.

"Said all your good-byes? I know it'll be hard, but trust me, you're going to love this crew you're going to be meeting." He climbed into the cab and showed the crew where Warren was to go.

"No, not a crew me lad, more like a new family," Warren smiled and with another toot of his whistle, he set off into the night.

 _ **The End!**_


	13. Book 4 Story 1-The Little Haulers

One year ago, I started this series and since then, you guys have been giving me alot of requests for lost steam locomotives. Well rest assured, your requests do not go unnoticed, as you'll see in this book and many more to come out. Anyways, with this book, we're taking a trip to a different part of the Island with a very unique line. As for the first engine you'll see in here when you start reading story 1, I learned of this one from watching a video on youtube from GreenFrogVideos, though I can't remember which one it was, and in case you're wondering, she is related to the famous engine from the Fort Wayne Historical society.

 _ **The Railroad Stories**_

 _ **Book 4: Engines of the Little Haulers**_

 _ **Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Greeting Readers,

 _In the previous books, you've been learning about the engines that work on the Freedom Railroad, but it has to be said that they are not the only rail line on the Island. There's also a three foot narrow gauge railroad that runs through Big Jim's town and into valleys that standard gauge engines can't go to. In the fall of 1956, there were only two engines working there, one from Japan and the second, an engine from the Rio Grande Southern Region with a big ego. Like all things, not everything went well at first, but why tell you now when you can just read for yourselves?_

The Author

 **Stories Included:**

 **-** The Little Haulers

 **-** Alison

 **-** Bad Luck Jenny

 **-** Disgraced Hero

 _ **The Little Haulers**_

 _ **JNR No 248 was created by: Cryo Threshold**_

Leaves sat on the tracks of the Freedom Railroad. With no wind blowing, they were motionless like the rails themselves. Soon though, the rails started to shake, and the leaves danced about and within moments, the leaves were scattered everywhere as a big steam engine blasted through the area with a heavy freight train.

The engine was a new addition to the railroad, having only been returned to service three weeks ago. She had a wheel arrangement of two front wheels, eight driving wheels and four back wheels under a massive firebox. She also carried the number 772 on the side of her cab, and while the tender said 'Freedom Railroad', the font was similar to that of the Nickel Plate Road, the line she originally came from. This was Andrea, a cheerful tender engine who loved to smile all the time. In fact, it was very rare to ever see a frown.

As the fall season had begun, the Nickel Plate Road started getting rid of their steamers in favor of the modern diesel engines. Andrea and many other engines sat forelongly on sidings watching the trains roll by, and either being payed no attention to by workers, or having kids climb into the cab just for the fun of goofing around. This was a time for sadness for her and the other engines, but luck was her side.

On September 2nd 1956, Robert and another man went to the Nickel Plate Road to see if they could get some engines. Robert liked the design of 772 and asked to buy her. The yard foreman however wanted to see the engine scrapped, and had a blazing argument with Robert for three solid hours. In the end, he lost the battle and 772, now known as Andrea was bought. But she wasn't alone.

The second man was Mr Willits, the manager of the McKenna Railroad Museum. He had taken a shine to two other engines, 773, another Berkshire class engine and No 580, a Mikado type steam engine. He wanted both of them as his museum only had a Model T Ford Car and a tanker. Again, another argument started up in the yards with the yard foreman, but like before, he lost the battle and Mr Willits was able to buy both steam locomotives.

Now it was October 1956, and Andrea looked better than ever as she thundered into McKenna. As she rattled through, she looked to a big building and saw 773 and 580 near the window. The window gave the locos a great chance to see the world outside, and to see the engines of the Freedom Railroad as they went on through. They smiled at Andrea, and naturally, she smiled back at them as she watched workers continue to give them cosmatic restorations.

"It's a shame they won't be running like me," she said to her engineer, "but at least they are preserved."

"Indeed that's true girl," smiled Mandy, her engineer, "just like you and the other engines have on the Freedom Line. Now, keep your eyes on the rails, we're still going through the city streets."

"Oh right sorry." Sometimes Andrea could be a bit of a scatter-brain and not pay attention, but it never usually lead to trouble.

Soon, the freight was out of the city limits and rattling down the main line. The train's destination was a unique town known as Big Jim's Town. It was called Big Jim's Town after the mayor who helped so many people during the great depression. This was also going to Andrea's first visit to the town. Warren, Rebecca and Carrie had gone there a few times and said the others would be surprised with what's there.

 _"I wonder what excatly is going to be in Big Jim's town that's so interesting,"_ Andrea thought to herself.

She was due to find out as she came into the town. Her engineer slowed her down to a gentle stop, then her fireman, Vanessa Rickles, climbed down to change them over to a siding. Once done, she climbed back into the cab as Andrea made her way into the siding.

Near the end of the siding was a platform, and on the other side of the platform was a set of tracks that looked to be not as wide as her rails.

"Eh, what's up with those tracks? We can't fit on them, so what are they used for?" Andrea asked out loud.

"They're for us of course," said another voice.

If she could, Andrea would've jumped, but instead she just gave a yelp. The voice chuckled, "sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

Andrea looked to her right and saw a small tank engine on the other line. This one was covered in lots of piping, had a weather prove cab, the biggest smoke deflectors ever seen, a pair of big and small headlamps on top of the smokebox, a number plate with the number '248', as well as two front wheels, six driving wheels and four back wheels. There was also a nameplate on the smoke deflectors, which read 'Makoto'.

"It's alright, I didn't see you there," said Andrea. She looked at the nameplate, "uh, how do you say your name?"

The engine smiled, "Ma, Ko, you know like Co, then it's To, like saying toe. Ma-Ko-To, but you can call me Mak if you want. Many of the residants around here have come to call me that."

"The residants? Wait, how long have you been here?"

"Since last year, when my manager, Mr Harrison bought me, but I was only put back into service three months ago. Though," she paused and chuckled, "I wish your line had been open at the time, it would've been better to travel by rail than those McKenna Trucks, they were, and still are terrible." Mak then looked the engine over, "judging from your wheel arrangement and your size, I'd say you're a Nickel Plate Berkshire, aren't you?"

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"Simple, my Driver...opps, I mean Engineer loves anything to do with American Steam engines and often talks about engines of your class. Still, he never mentions names."

Andrea chuckled, "silly me, I should've done that when we started talking. I'm Andrea, and these are my crew members; Vanessa is my fireman and Mandy is my engineer." Both women waved from the cab.

"Well it's nice to meet you all. These are my crew members; Kyle is my engineer and Tom is my fireman." Both men waved out of the cab.

"Hope I don't affend you or anything," said Andrea as her crew climbed down to help empty the cars, "but where excatly did you come from? I've never seen engines like you before."

Mak chuckled, "well you wouldn't have unless you came from Japan."

"Japan? But that's so far away!" Andrea was surprised to hear that.

"Indeed it is, but it's not so bad, it's better than being left there to rot away in sidings, but you must know what that's like." Andrea did and shuddered thinking about it. "Sorry Andrea, didn't mean to bring up terrible memories."

"It's alright, the important thing is that I'm here, and so are two other engines from my old railroad. My sister 773 and cousin 580 are engines at the McKenna Railroad Museum, and currently are being cosmatically restored."

"Oh I knew about them and the Museum, Carrie made mention of them once already."

"Carrie's been here?"

"Of course," smiled Mak. "Both our lines do business together, so it's not rare to meet up with one of you Freedom Engines. I've already spoken with Rebecca, Carrie and Warren. All of which are friendly engines. Oh and my line's the Little Haulers, forgot to mention that."

"Why Little Haulers?" Andrea asked with curiousity.

"Cause we're little, and we haul trains. At least that's what Mr Harrison often says."

Andrea chuckled. She was already starting to like this little engine, "how far does your line go?" she asked.

"It goes into the valleys that your line can't get to. We pass through countryside scenery, past many farms and along a rocky ledge. It's not as steep as some of the lines I've seen over the years, but it's still a long way down. And much like your railroad, we're also expanding in the hopes of helping more towns along the way."

"You guys aren't planning on buying diesels are you?"

Mak laughed, "ha, diesels on our line, not a chance. Mr Harrison doesn't like the sounds they make, _they don't sound like they're alive_ , so he says. That's why he's avoiding Narrow Gauge diesels, he much prefers steam, like your manager or Mr Willits."

"Did those diesels replace you too?"

"Well how else do you think I ended up on the scrap line? Of course they replaced me and many other engines too. The C58s, the D60s, and many of my class; the Class 11s." Mak sighed, "but it was a good run while it lasted."

"What was your old line like?" Andrea asked, wanting to know about the beauty of Mak's old line.

"The Narrow Gauge Japan National was beautiful. We ran through beautiful countryside scenery, passing many japanese style houses, seeing the beautiful trees along there, like Cheery Blossoms. Oh yes, I love those kind of trees. Then there was the people, always smiling and waving as you rattle by, or helping your own crew when they needed to unload and there was too much to do alone. Even big cities were beautiful with plenty to see and do. Oh yes, I tell you, it was beautiful. At least, it was before..." Mak stopped.

"Before what?"

"The World War. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, the American armies came to fight and I tell you, I've seen more gun-fire than most engines in the old west. It was a terrible sight, and while I won't go into details, let's just say I've seen many a young kid have their lives cut short."

Mandy the enginner asked the next question, "did you see the big one drop?"

"You mean the Atomic Bombs? No, I did not see them. When the first one dropped, I had a problem with my cylinder, so I had to stay near Tokyo. It was evening when I heard about it. When the second dropped, I was on a delivery far away from the impact zone." She sighed, "I cried for days after that."

Silence fell on the area, apart from Rebecca going back to the yards for more supplies to expand the line.

"I'm sorry to hear all that," said Andrea.

"Thank you. I lost many friends during those days." Mak took the time to calm herself down by breathing in and out. "After all that, we continued on as best as we could, but by the time this decade came into play, our types; the steam locomotives, were deemed out dated and only good for scrap. We sat for gosh knows how long in those sidings, waiting for either salvation, or our demise. I saw many engines being cut up, and others being bought up and taken away to be preserved."

"Did you think you were going to be bought too?"

"By Winter 1955, I didn't think so. I thought I was going to be cut up too, then along came Mr Harrison. He came into the yards with a man who understood both English and Japanese, and translated every word for the yard manager. In the end, I was bought and brought here for restoration."

"Did you know how to speak English when you came here?"

"Nope, not a single word," answered Mak. "My Dri...er, Engineer and fireman taught me all I needed to know about the language, and while it's not perfect all the time, I am getting better."

"That's good to know. Still, you must get lonely around here."

"Why's that?"

"Well," said Andrea, "you're the only engine of the line, aren't you?"

"For now yes, but Mr Harrison has already bought another engine to help out. She's coming from the Rio Grande Southern, so he said. I'm sure in due time, we'll become good friends and be like a family, much like the engines of your railroad."

At last, the supplies were off the train.

"Well I guess I better head back to the yards for another job. It was nice meeting you Mak, and I wish you good luck when the new arrival gets here."

"Thanks Andrea, safe journeys for you my friend." Andrea whistled and puffed away, while Mak took the load of supplies to where they needed to go.


	14. Book 4 Story 2-Alison

_**Alison**_

"The dynamite's been lit, get back everyone! Fire in the hole!" Hearing that, miners moved away and ducked for cover. There was a loud explosion, followed by dozens or so rocks falling from the ceilings and walls. Once the dust had cleared, the miners went to work breaking the rocks into smaller pieces to be moved out in hopper cars.

One of the jobs of the Little Haulers is to go inside the mine of Clover's Hill, and collect the rocks from inside to take to other destinations around the Island and the World. Makoto was at the front of a fifteen car train.

"Why can't the train have more than fifteen cars?" asked a miner. "It won't waste so much time waiting for another empty train when we got so much stone to move."

"You know why they have only fifteen cars," said the mine foreman. "Anymore and poor Mak wouldn't be able to get back up Clover's Hill."

"Besides," added another miner, "we don't usually have too much stone left over, so quit your whining for goodness sakes! I bet you're annoying Mak, and she's at the enterance way."

It was true, Makoto was at the front enterance way for one important reason. The smoke from her funnel could easily drift into the mine shaft and make it very difficult to breath in there. Still, she didn't mind being at the front enterance as it gave her a chance to look at the scenery around her like farms and little animals in the nearby Clover's Hill Forest. It was peaceful, much like the forests of Cheery Trees from Japan.

"The new engine's due for today," said her engineer. "I hope we can get back in time to see it being off-loaded." It was clear to see that Kyle was excited, much like a kid in a toy store.

"Well we'll definetly need that engine," said Tom the fireman. "Workloads are starting to pick up, and poor Mak can't do everything on her own. I mean, look back to yesterday, we were late back with a freight and nearly got the passengers angry with us."

"Actually Tom, they weren't that angry," said Mak. "They know we're trying our best. But you're right, we do need that engine."

"I just wonder what it'll be like," said Kyle the engineer. "I've been reading up on several of these Rio Grande Southern engines, and they all look grand..." he paused for a moment and added, "though you're still the grandest engine here Mak."

Makoto chuckled, "don't worry Kyle, I'm not bothered by it. After all, it's not a contest over who's better. As long as the newcomer and I work well together, then that's all that matters to me."

Finally, the cars were all loaded and with a toot of her whistle, Mak set off towards the incline that would take her up to the ledge that went along Clover's Hill. The incline was steep, but with fifteen cars, she managed to get up and away towards the yards.

When she reached the yards, she found that Warren had arrived with box cars and a flatbed with a small steam engine on it.

"Oh, it's one of the 70 class engines," said Kyle when he saw the newcomer. "And by the looks of it, she's had a full restoration before coming here. That should be a huge sigh of relief to Mr Harrison."

Speaking of which, Mr Harrison was waiting on the platform that sat between the Freedom Railroad's tracks and the Little Hauler's line. He wanted to keep watch over the operations about to unfold. Road cranes were also nearby, ready to do the unloading.

"Right you cranes, come on over and be careful, we want to run this engine, not treat her like a toy."

"Yes sir," said the two road cranes.

They moved into position, and once the newcomer had been untied from the flatbed, the cranes lifted her carefully off the flatbed and gently placed her onto the narrow gauge tracks.

"Geez finally, that was too long!" she grumbled. "All that time on the boat, then sitting on flatbeds. That's no life for an engine like me."

Warren sighed and said nothing, though judging from the look on his face, it was clear that he was annoyed. Mr Harrison walked up to the engine, "well I did tell you it was a long journey, but at least you're here." He looked over to Makoto, "hey Mak, once you've shunted those cars out of the way, will you take Alison over to the warehouse for final inspections?"

"Hai, I mean, yes Sir," Mak quickly corrected herself.

Once she was uncoupled, Mak puffed over to the new engine. She was a tender engine with two front wheels, eight driving wheels, two domes, a bell, a tall funnel and had a very big headlamp on top of her smokebox. She also carried the number 76 on the side of her cab.

"Be careful not to damage my tender!" snapped Alison. "I just got it back you know!"

"Got it back? What do you mean by that?"

Alison rolled her eyes, "it's because I was in pieces you daft engine, they were about ready to melt me down when I was spared. Gosh, don't you know about the fate of steamers? Honestly, you must've been living under a rock to not know that."

Now Mak understood why Warren looked annoyed. Alison really didn't seem that friendly. Still, she coupled up gently to the new engine and pushed her carefully over to the warehouse. The Warehouse was their engine shed, big enough to store up to ten locomotives, though right now, it was home to three coaches under repair and the two steamers.

"Oh come on, where's the shed?"

"This is our shed, this is where we live and rest after a hard day's work," answered Mak.

"This has to be a joke. A proper railroad should have a proper roundhouse with a big turntable. Not a warehouse with small, properly non-powered turntable."

"We can't have a roundhouse, there's not enough room in Big Jim's town for one."

"Tah! That's only because Mr Harrison is a softie."

"What?!" exclaimed Mak in horror. She did not like hearing terrible things about the man who saved her from scrap.

"You heard correct, a big softie. He lets everyone push him around and force him to have whatever is left." Alison showed a smug look, "now if he was tough like my former owner, then he would've gotten all the engines of my class. But no," her face changed to a sour expression, "he only got myself and nothing more. Why I bet by the end of this year, he'll be replaced with someone who _can_ run a railroad."

Makoto was furious, "well thankfully he only did get you, cause if he got the other engines, and if they're like you, you'd drive him insane." She slowed to an a hard stop, making Alison jerk voilently. "Now you do well to not say anymore rubbish, er garbage about our manager. He's a good man, and he'll be working as manager for a long time. You'll see. Now if you'll excuse me, I have cargo to collect from Warren." She was uncoupled and puffed out of the warehouse.

"Yeah, sure, whatever silly engine," snorted Alison.

The inspection went on for the rest of the day, and by next morning, Alison was steamed up for the first time. Mr Harrison came to the warehouse to see the two locomotives, "good morning ladies, I trust you've gotten time to get to know each other?"

"You could say that," muttered Mak.

"Good, now then for today's work. Alison, as you are new here, I would like to put you on mining duty."

"Mining duty?!" she exclaimed. "But Sir, what about coaches?"

"We're not due for passengers till later in the day, and that's only if you can handle the freight work easily," he said firmly. "Till then, please collect the hoppers and go to Clover's Hill mine. And Mak, you can take supplies down to the end of the line as we're still expanding our line towards Gilbert's Lane."

"Yes Sir," said Mak proudly. She'd glady take the track laying train over working with Alison any day of the week.

Alison puffed over towards the yards and collected her hoppers. But much to the alarm of the yard foreman; Percy Gilbert, Alison was at the wrong end.

"Hey!" he cried. "You're suppose to be on the other end, not the front end!"

But Alison payed no attention, and once the connections were made, she set off. Mr Gilbert threw down his hat to the ground, "Mr Harrison isn't going to be happy when he hears about this."

Clover's Hill is the steepest part of the Little Haulers line. Going down at 1.5 percent, engines and crews had to be focused at all times to prevent a runaway. To make the situation worse, there is a sharp curve close to the switches leading to the incline for the mine. If an engine were to go too fast, they could fly off and crash into the mine. Alison's crew had been warned of this and were prepared for the hill and sharp curve, but they hadn't counted on the behaviour of their engine.

They were going along at twenty miles per hour, but Alison didn't like it, "we can go faster than this. I did all the time on the Rio Grande Southern," and without warning, she began to speed up.

"Alison, what are you doing?!" cried her engineer. "Slow down, it's too dangerous to go over thirty along here."

"Oh please, there's no danger, so stop worrying for goodness sakes."

The engineer tried every trick he knew to slow the train down, but it was useless as Alison kept on speeding. Soon she was going at forty five miles per hour.

"Now _this_ is the proper speed for a railroad to have," she boasted proudly.

The engineer looked to the fireman, "Karen, I hate to say it, but we're going to die today." The fireman looked wide eyed like she couldn't believe it. "Brace yourself, the steep part of the line is coming up."

Both engineer and fireman braced themselves. Alison rolled down the hill, picking up speed as she did. It was only when she was halfway down the steep slope that she saw the sharp bend, but it was too late. In a horrifing moment, Alison jumped from the tracks at the curve, flew threw the air for less than a second before crashing down onto the ground hard. She skidded along on the ground and bashed right into the mine shaft's enterance way.

To make matters worse, she had gone sideways when she skidded, and now was blocking much of the enterance way. When the miners came to see what was going on, they found a rather tight way out, and smoke filling the mine.

"Get out quickly!" shouted the foreman, coughing in between words.

It almost did look impossible to get out, but squeezing their way through, they managed it and into the fresh air of the outdoors.

Karen the fireman opened her eyes and found herself in the coal load of Alison's tender. Her left arm had been dislocated, but she wasn't hurt. She went over to the engineer, "John, are you alright?" she asked and shook him. He was in his seat, but slumped over the controls.

After a few shakes, he finally woke up, "ohh, what hit me?"

"Ask later, we got to get out and phone for help."

"You go get help, I'll deal with the fire."

Karen nodded and ran off to the nearest farm. John the Engineer had a broken right leg, but still he managed to put the fire out, then was helped out of the cab by the miners. They took him to a tree and told him to rest there. Meanwhile, all Alison could do was look at the rockwall in dazed shock.

"I'd say she's toast when Mr Harrison gets here," sighed John the Engineer.

It was thirty minutes later when Mak arrived with a workmen's coach, and with Mr Harrison on board. As for cranes, it took forty minutes after the accident for them to arrive.

"Golly, what a mess," said Michelle, one of the cranes who came to help. "Well, we might as well get to work partner."

The other crane agreed and they started by removing the damaged cars. Workers above had to repair the track cause Alison damaged it upon going down. Mak was surprised, "in all my years working for the JNR, I've never seen a mess like this before. Was anyone seriously hurt?"

"Just a broken leg for the engineer, and an arm dislocated for the fireman," said the mine foreman. "But other than that, we're all fine. Though it could've been worse, especially with that silly engine's smoke blowing inside the mine."

Mak shuddered, she didn't want to think on how bad it could've been.

It was dark by the time the mess had been cleared. Alison's crew had been taken to hospital where they both had to have operations. Alison was the last piece of equipment to be taken away from the mess. Mak hauled her back on flatbeds.

Mr Harrison spoke firmly with the tender engine, "we have speed limits along Clover's Hill for a good reason, as you have proven today," he said firmly. "I will not stand for stupid behaviours like this."

"Well no one told me that it was a steep slope."

"You never gave them a chance, and for that matter, Mr Gilbert told me you were on the wrong end of the train. He tried to speak to you, but you wouldn't listen to him."

"Well Sir, I didn't think..."

"That's your problem, you _don't_ think at all. Now you've sent your crew off to the hospital, damaged our cars, our tracks and yourself. Not to mention I had to call Mak away from Track laying duties to rescue you." He looked her firmly in the eyes, "I will not stand for this nonsense. You will go back into the warehouse to be repaired, then you'll do the jobs I ask you to do. And let me tell you, one more incident like this will give you a worst nightmare than being left in the yards in pieces. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly Sir," she whimpered.

"I sure hope so," and with that, Mr Harrison walked away while Mak pushed the broken engine back into the Warehouse.

 _This accident was partly based on the wreck of Southern Pacific Train 7551 in 1989 at Duffy Street. The train's brakes couldn't slow the massive train down Cajon Pass and crashed into several houses. Unlike the story, four lives were lost in the 7551 wreck._


	15. Book 4 Story 3-Bad Luck Jenny

_**Bad Luck Jenny**_

There are quite a few farms along the Little Haulers line. Some focus on one kind of animal like the Cozens' Pig Farm, or Farmer Brent's Milking farm where he had the largest amount of cows of anyone on the entire Island. One farmer though was famous for quite the wrong reasons. Farmer Jenny had a simple farm that grew corn and had sheep, but somehow, someway, when a new day dawns, something would go wrong. Once, Farmer Jenny got her tractor stuck in the sheep pan, and another time, the sheep ended up in her living room. These were only a couple of reasons why everyone along the Little Haulers line had come to call her 'Bad Luck Jenny'.

The sun was merely rising and shining through the window of the Warehouse when Mr Harrison came in, "today's the start of the fall fair," he said, "and farmers are asking for our help to bring their animals over to the site."

"Don't worry Sir, once my fire's been lit, I'll go collect those animals."

"Good Mak, I know I can count on you..." he paused and looked over to Alison's direction, "unlike some engines I can mention around here." Alison gulped hearing that. "You'll be picking up the cows first, then..." he paused again.

Kyle the Engineer raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what was next, when it suddenly came to him, "we're picking up Bad Luck Jenny's sheep aren't we?"

Mr Harrison nodded, "good luck with those things, you'll need it." And with that, he turned and walked away.

"Who is Bad Luck Jenny? And what kind of name is that anyways?" asked Alison.

Mak was in no mood to talk with Alison following her harsh words on Mr Harrison, and her crash, so she ignored her. Once her steam pressure was up, she puffed out of the warehouse.

"Sure, ignore me why don't you!" snapped Alison.

"Oh be quiet!" snapped a worker. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

Now Bad Luck Jenny wasn't a bad person, she just couldn't help it when things went wrong. She would do her best to put things right, but it was like she was cursed with bad luck, cause usually, it got worse than it was before.

She waited eagerily by the line-side for Mak to arrive with the cattle cars, after she had collected Farmer Brent and his cows.

"Morning Jenny, you look like you've been in the mud again."

And indeed she did as her farmer's outfit was completly covered in mud, "trust the little muttins to take off and knock me off my feet," she said with a smile on her face. "Who knew sheep were that strong?"

Tom the fireman shook his head, "that's Old Jenny alright, always getting in a mess."

Kyle the Engineer chuckled, then spoke with Jenny, "so where are the little buggers?"

"They're still in the pan, for once in their lives. They haven't taken over my kitchen, yet." She looked back at them, who were looking at her kitchen window. "One of these days, they're gonna force me out of my home."

The crew chuckled as they climbed down to help Farmer Jenny with her work. Of course, rounding up the sheep wasn't going to be easy. It seemed that Bad Luck Jenny's curse was playing up again as they ran in any direction but towards the train.

"Come on sheep, go towards the train, there's some good...oh no, hey I said to the train, not towards the corn field," groaned Tom. He ran ahead of them and blocked them, sending them back another way. "There you go, now go...nope, they're going back to their pan."

Farmer Brent came out of the caboose, "need some help fellas?"

"Yes please, Bad Luck Jenny's curse is upon us again."

Farmer Brent chuckled and walked over with his faithful German Shepperd, "alright guys, stand back. Let the dog see the rabbit."

"Don't you mean, see the Sheep?" asked Jenny with a chuckle.

"Er, yes that's what I meant." He shook his head and whispered to his dog, "go round 'em up boy."

Instantly, the dog went to work rounding up all the sheep and sending them straight towards the train. They went into the car with no trouble, and Farmer Brent was able to close the door.

"Maybe I should've gotten out sooner to help," he said to the crew.

"Oh well, no harm done. Other than Jenny's outfit of course."

In the midst of chasing the sheep, Bad Luck Jenny had slipped and fallen face first in the mud. She was able to laugh it off though, "well they said mud's good for the skin you know."

Farmer Brent gave her a towel and she wiped the mud off her arms and face. Then she climbed aboard.

"Whatever did she do to get so unlucky?" Mak asked as her crew returned.

"One can only guess," answered Kyle. "Maybe she crossed one black cat too many, maybe she broke some mirrors by accident, but whatever she did, she's now Bad Luck Jenny."

With the animals now aboard, Mak slowly puffed off towards the fall fair in Big Jim's Town.

At first, the journey went well as they climbed up hills and along the ledges of the hillside, passing the mine where Alison had had her accident. Down below, workers were going back in after getting an all clear. It truely felt that nothing would go wrong, but it would.

" _Hope that lock is strong,"_ Farmer Jenny thought to herself, " _wouldn't want them guys to get out again_."

For reasons unknown, the sheep suddenly started ramming themselves into the locked door of their car. Mak could hear them, "Geez, they are tough little bakas...er, buggers aren't they? They're going to hurt themselves doing that."

"Well the fairgrounds aren't that far off, won't be long now old girl," said Tom the Fireman.

But as they entered into town, bad luck struck again. With a bang, the sheep broke the lock off the door, and they jumped out. Hearing the bang, Tom looked out the cab, "holy smokes, we got a jail break back there!"

Hearing this, Kyle applied the brakes and Mak came to an abrupt stop. As they did, all the sheep jumped out and started running around the train and in the streets.

"Oh for crying out loud!" shouted Kyle as he climbed down from the cab. Tom stayed behind to keep an eye on the fire.

Jenny and Farmer Brent came out of the caboose to see what the fuss was, and were surprised to see the sheep in the streets and even sitting in front of Mak.

"Jenny, I've always said you had the most disrespectful sheep in the world," said Farmer Brent, "but I was only joking then."

Jenny sighed, "I know you were, I just can't for the life of me figure why these guys are always troublesome."

"We'll worry about that later," said Kyle the Engineer, "right now, we need to get them back into their car and over to the fair. Once there, they'll be safe."

"Uh slight problem there Kyle," said Farmer Brent, "there's no lock for the door, so how are we suppose to keep them in there?"

Kyle didn't have an answer. No one did.

"Well we have to do something before a car hits one of these little guys," said Mak. "Thank goodness Alison's still in the Warehouse, otherwise it would be a disaster."

It was that moment that a car pulled up and stopped. Stepping out of the car was the town's Mayor; Big Jim. He was a big guy, but never had any trouble moving, "hello everyone, what's the matter today?"

"Bad Luck Jenny's sheep escaped from our car here, and broke the lock," answered Kyle, showing off the lock.

"Yikes, that's quite a predicament."

"I don't suppose you have any ideas on how we can sort out this mess Mr Mayor?" asked Jenny sweetly.

Big Jim used to be a farmer once upon a time, so he knew how to handle animals. But looking at the mess around him, even he wasn't sure what to do. Then he heard some wheeshing. It was coming from Mak blowing off a little steam, and as she did so, some of the sheep moved away from her. An idea came to his head at that moment.

"Well it's crazy, but I think Mak could herd the sheep down the line."

"Me?" gasped Mak, "but why me?"

"Well they move when you blow steam, so maybe they'll respond to you and move along. The fairgrounds aren't that far off anyways, we can get there safely, if you're willing to help."

"Of course Mr Mayor," said Mak.

So it was arranged. Police were called to block traffic and to put barriers along the route to the fairgrounds. They also warned the Freedom Railroad as the Little Haulers' line crossed over their tracks. Rebecca was stopped a short distance back.

With the arrangements made, Big Jim rode in Mak's cab and ordered for the crew to move her along, slowly. As they moved, Mak wheeshed some steam and blew her whistle. To everyone's surprise, and relief, the sheep were moving along the pathway made. One though wanted to run off in a different direction.

"Back in line silly!" shouted Mak and sounded her whistle.

The sheep listened and went back to joining the herd. Soon, they passed the warehouse where Alison stared in shock, and then passed Rebecca on her Freedom Railroad Tracks.

"Okay, _now_ I've seen everything," she said to her crew. "Whoever heard of an engine herding sheep?"

Big Jim's plan worked though, as without any serious incidents, they arrived at the fairgrounds. From there, other farmers helped to get the silly sheep into their pan and made sure they wouldn't be escaping.

"Well ain't this an interesting day," chuckled Mayor Big Jim. "We actually did something you would only find in a children's book."

"Well either way, I'm glad it worked," sighed Jenny. "I'm sorry everyone for the mess, I just can't help it when things go wrong. Maybe I got out on the wrong side of the bed."

"It's okay Jenny, just glad we could be of some help," smiled Mak. "And it was actually kind of fun being a Sheep Engine. All the same though," she added with a chuckle, "I'll leave the farm work to you and the other farmers."

Jenny chuckled and walked off towards her sheep pan. Big Jim climbed back into the cab for a ride back to his car, but they barely started before they heard, "no guys, don't jump the...fence."

They all looked and saw the sheep jumping over the fence, and running all over the fairgrounds.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," groaned Kyle as he climbed down from the cab. Big Jim followed, "here we go again!"


	16. Book 4 Story 4-Disgraced Hero

_**Disgraced Hero**_

By the time the Fall fair ended, Alison was finally allowed out of the Warehouse, but upon getting out, she found Mr Harrison waiting outside for her with Mak in the distance and giving her a cold angry stare.

"You're a very lucky locomotive to be here Alison," Mr Harrison said firmly, "yet, just like your previous manager said, you've been whining and complaining, not to mention causing chaos wherever you go. We do not take kindly to that kind of behavior here on our railroad. We're meant to help the people, not hurt them."

Alison said nothing as she looked down to her cowcatcher.

"Eyes up here Alison!" snapped Mr Harrison. He shook his head, "gosh, even Robert didn't have to deal with this when he got his five locomotives." He composed himself, then continued to speak, "you're on thin ice right now Alison. Anymore mistakes and you'll be shipped back to where you came from, and I don't think you would want that do you?"

Alison gulped. She remembered being in pieces in the yard and awaiting her scrapping.

"I wouldn't want that Sir," she said glumly.

"Well then, prove to me that you don't. Cause you know what they say, actions speak louder than words."

Over the next few weeks, Alison was given a chance to pull freight trains, but she was always to stay within Big Jim's town and not go further down the line. Her temporary crew made sure that she didn't, and so did Mak. Under Mr Harrison's instructions, two box cars were left on the line leading out of town, and if they were moved, other than by Mak, than Alison would be reported.

"It's not fair at all," she grumbled to Warren one morning, "I should be allowed to go down the line, it gets so dull working in and around Big Jim's Town."

"Oi, you best be careful of your words and attitude me lassie," said Warren cautiously. "Otherwise you could end up like No 178."

"Who?"

And Warren told her the story about Northwestern Pacific's 178 and his cowardly attack that killed several people, and destoryed two steam locomotives, one of which was a mentor to him and the other engines. After hearing that story, Alison thought about her own actions. The actions that left her in pieces on the Rio Grande Southern, and the more recent crash into the mine enterance. Although she wanted to say that couldn't happen to her, the facts were there, she could've done alot more damage than she had done.

An hour later, she was puffing through the streets with a small freight train full of supplies. She was still thinking about Engine 178 and his attitude. So much so that she didn't notice a car coming off a sideroad and was going to cross her tracks. It was only too late when she saw it, but couldn't get a warning out as her cowcatcher hit the car hard and sent it spinning. It crashed into a light post, but thankfully it missed landing on the car.

"Oh no," Alison groaned.

The engineer climbed down, "you stupid engine, you should keep your eyes open on the tracks ahead, not have your head in the clouds."

The fireman sighed, "you stay with Alison, I'll go phone for help. Mr Harrison won't be happy when he hears about this."

Hearing the fireman say that, Alison began to picture herself back on the Rio Grande Southern, and in pieces once more. Although she tried to convince herself that Mr Harrison didn't have the guts to pull off that threat, she was seriously starting to doubt herself.

Emergency services soon reached the scene and began to figure out what had happened. Mr Harrison arrived in his car, and like the fireman said, he wasn't happy, "of course it had to be you Alison. Mak certainly knows better than this."

"Sorry Sir, I was thinking..."

"And not paying attention to your work." Mr Harrison sighed and pinched his fingers in between his eyes, "I don't know if I'll make it into my fifties if I keep you on the railroad. Once the police are done with their investigation, you will go back to the yards and shunt only. I will come by to talk with you later." Then he walked off to see if he could help.

" _Looks like he will go through with his threat_ ," she thought to herself. " _Scrap heap, make room for No 76._ "

Word spread down the line quickly and soon reached Mak and the crew working on getting closer to Gilbert's Lane, "it's no surprise there, she insulted our line, insulted our manager and insulted...well, pretty much anything on this Island. You'd think the warnings would've gotten through to her, yet they didn't."

"You never truely know old girl," said Tom the fireman, "there might be a different side to the story. That's why the police are there, to find out for sure."

"Well one thing's certain, we won't be blaming this on Bad Luck Jenny today," chuckled Kyle the Engineer, trying to lighten up the situation.

But still, it left everyone thinking that Alison was a troublemaker and her time on the line was nearing an end. At least, for now they thought that.

The line going to Gilbert's Lane ran alongside a hillside, and while there was more than enough space for the line to go through, there had always been the worrying thought about the land above the tracks. Sometimes, it can be as hard as a rock, and other times, it felt soft and could easily come down at any moment. It was especially worse on areas without much vegatation like the area just above Mak and her train.

Sirens were placed above the line during construction phases to warn everyone in case it ever did come down.

"We'll be fine everyone," said the foreman. "Mr Harrison and I have gone through this area, and apart from a rock on the line, we've never had a mudslide come down on us. What's there to worry about?"

"I really wish he hadn't said that," groaned one of the workers.

The workers were just about ready to move another rail into place, when the trouble began. There came a rumbling sound from above. They all looked and saw huge storm clouds rolling in, and with their arrival, came lots and lots of rain. It poured down hard. It weakened the mud above Mak's train, and without warning, it started to move. Slowly at first, then it came down faster. The sirens went off for a second before being swallowed up in the mud.

"Everyone get back!" shouted the foreman.

Kyle, Tom and the workers ran down the hill as fast as they could, while all Mak could do was shut her eyes and prepare for the mud bath. It hit Mak and the train, derailing many of the cars in front of her and pushing her a bit. The cars rolled down the hill, but not Mak. She remained on the ledge of the hillside, looking down to the workers.

" _That's_ what we should worry about," groaned a worker. "What a mess this is, we'll need some help to get everything cleared up."

"We'll worry about cleaning up the mess later," said Kyle the engineer, "First we need to get Mak out of there in case another Mudslide occurs. Tom, you go back down the line to one of the farms and phone Mr Harrison, I'll put out the fire."

Tom the fireman wasted no time and hurried away, leaving Kyle to walk through the mud on the hill.

"Oh my wife's gonna love this," he said sarcastically.

In the yards, Mr Harrison was having a serious talk with Alison about her accident, "boasting about being superior is one thing, and yes I am aware of your words, but this is going too far."

"Sir I didn't..."

Just then, a worker called out, "Mr Harrison, you have a phone call."

"Take a message, I'm not done dealing with No 76 here." Alison gulped hearing her number being mentioned instead of her name.

"Can't, it's urgent. Mak's been involved in an accident!"

Mr Harrison gasped, and quickly ran back to his office. He was in there for a short period of time. When he came out, he gave out orders to the workers, then walked back towards Alison.

"Okay Alison, you're not in my good books right now, but you're the only engine that can help, so we'll continue our chat later. Right now, I need you to collect some flatcars, a crane and a coach."

"What for Sir? And what happened to Mak?"

"A mudslide happened, that's what." And he explained about the mudslide outside Gilbert's Lane.

Hearing of her work colleague in trouble, Alison wasted no time in getting what Mr Harrison needed and once the workers were aboard, they set off down the line to the rescue. Of course, they had to remove the box cars first at the edge of town before doing so.

The crew of workers, the foreman and Mak's own crew worked hard to clear away much of the mud, but it was difficult work as more seemed to come down. Thankfully, each amount was smaller than the big one, but it was still not easy to clear away, or move around in.

"At this rate, it'll be winter by the time we can get Mak back to the yards," grumbled the foreman.

"Not to worry," said Tom the fireman, "Mr Harrison said he would be here soon with more help."

And a short while later, help arrived. Alison could hardly believe the sight that was before her. Now if she was in her original state from her arrival, she would've laughed at Mak for playing in the mud, but she didn't this time. She was more focused on helping.

Mr Harrison and the rescue crews went to work to clear the mud away from their engine, and when they were sure all was ready, they ordered for Alison to push the crane forward. She did so and slowly but surely, Mak was lifted back onto the steel rails.

"Right Alison, now move the crane back to the line for the mine and get ready to pull Mak back."

"Yes Sir!" shouted Alison and went back slowly and carefully.

When she returned, she understood why she had flatbeds in front of her. It was to protect her from getting stuck too. She pushed the cars forward until she heard a clunk!

"Alright, pull her back!" called Mr Harrison.

Alison pulled slowly backwards and didn't stop until Mak was clear of the mudslide. With her now at a safe distance, her wheels could finally be cleaned and Alison could take her back to the Warehouse. Neither engine said a word during the run back.

Once Mak was back in the yards, Alison brought the crane back and helped to get the cars back, along with all the rails, and railroad ties.

It was Midnight by the time the work was done. Alison was tired, but quite pleased with herself, " _well if I'm going to be sent back and be turned to scrap, at least I got to do one good thing around here,_ " she thought to herself. As soon as she reached the warehouse, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. She even slept through her crew putting out her fire.

When morning came, the sun shone brightly inside the big building and onto Alison.

"I'm going to miss seeing that," she sighed unhappily.

Mak heard her as she opened her eyes. She was going to speak when a door opened and in walked Mr Harrison, "well Alison, just when I thought I figured you out, you surprised me with helping Mak and retrieving the track laying train. I have to say, you did a great job, _and_ you didn't make a fuss over working throughout the evening."

"Thank you Sir, but clearly I'm not meant to be here," she sighed unhappily. "I'm just going to cause trouble for the line, and you don't need that. I mean, my crash into the mine enterance, my smashing into the car yesterday, and don't even start about how I got turned into a bunch of pieces on the Rio Grande Southern. I'm ready to leave whenever you want me to."

"Leave, now why would I want you to leave?"

"Sir, I just said..."

"Look, the mine accident was your fault, but unlike a certain engine from Warren's old working life on the California Western, you actually felt guilt over what you did. That shows you're not like a maniac on wheels, and no one got killed, so we'll say no more about it. Even your crew are willing to forgive you, as long as you listen to them."

"Well I can try, it'll just be hard to break old habits Sir...but wait, what about the car I hit yesterday?"

"Ah yes, the car," Mr Harrison rubbed the back of his head, "seems I jumped the gun before learning the full facts. Turns out that car was being driven by bank robbers, who just stole ten thousand dollars from the bank itself. The police weren't even aware of this robbery, until they found the money in the trunk of the car. Turns out, you're not only a helpful engine, but a crimebuster too." Mr Harrison had to chuckle, "what an interesting railroad I have. First I have a sheep herding engine, and now a crimebusting hero."

Mak and Alison, along with the crews had to chuckle to that.

"So, does this mean Alison gets to stay?" Mak asked hopefully.

"I don't see a reason why not," smiled Mr Harrison. "And over time, hopefully, we can get her out of those old bad habits, and make her a better engine."

"Thank you Sir, I'll do my best here, I promise."

"I hope you do Alison," he smiled. "There is one more thing that needs to be addressed though." Alison gulped hearing that. Mr Harrison called out to the workers, "get that old railroad name off her tender, she needs the current line's name on there." Alison sighed. That was one thing she could definetly have changed in one day.

 **The End!**

 _Well my friends, that's it for Book 4, and right on the same month when Book 1 was posted back in 2017. I hope you have enjoyed learning about Mak and Alison, and rest assured, they along with everyone of the Little Haulers will return in future volumes. Next time though, we're returning to the Freedom Railroad and seeing more newcomers. I will say that several of your requests will finally come into play._

 _In case you're wondering of how I found Alison's class, I happened to have spotted photos of Rio Grande Southern No 74 while looking up the line's locomotives. In a post, it said that No 75 and No 76 were indeed in pieces at one time, though I doubt it was because of bad behavior. As for Makoto, she does have surviving sisters in Japan, some of which are in operation. As for Andrea (No 772), as far as I know in the United States alone, she has six surviving sisters, including the running operating icon of the Fort Wayne Historical Society; No 765. And one more important note to point out is that No 757 will be on the move soon as she'll be leaving Strasburg Pennsylvania and going to a new home. And now that's all I have to say, see you with Book 5._


	17. Book 5 Story 1-Tipped Over

Well readers, you've had to wait quite a bit, and then some due to me not getting it done for June, which was meant to be the original time for this book's release, I can only say sorry for that, but hope you will enjoy this book. And yes, I'm still taking requests for locomotives, and one of those requested is here. It's the engine mentioned in this first story. I would like to point out though that after this book, there may be one or two volumes that will include no new engines as it would give us a chance to see operations on the Island during the winter months. Don't worry though, when we do get into the 1957 volumes, more locos will appear and judging from the long requested locos list, there's plenty to chose from.

 _ **The Railroad Stories**_

 _ **Book 5: Southern Pacific's Finest**_

 _ **Written by: ThomasZoey3000/Requested Locomotive by: Noahjacksich**_

 _Greetings Readers,_

 _In 1956, Robert Gagnon and the Freedom Railroad had saved five amazing locomotives, but as the months were changing from the colorful fall and going into the bitter cold of winter, they would end up saving not one, but three more locomotives for their fleet. These would be the last engines for 1956 until Spring 1957. Though Robert and the Freedom Engines would never have known about these locomotives had it not been for Mr Willits' latest additions at the time._

 _The Author_

 **Stories Included:**

-Tipped Over

-The Tehachapi Landing

-The Mighty Ace

-The Finest Engines

 _ **Tipped Over**_

Frigid winds blew off from the ocean and onto the docks of the Freedom Railroad as Andrew, Carrie and Andrea waited there. Andrea was taking another fast freight towards Big Jim's Town, while the two hudsons were waiting for a ship to come in with a big shipment for Mr Willits' museum.

"I wonder what it is that Mr Willits found this time," Carrie said to the other locos and crews. "I know last time, he found Nickel Plate Engines, and that's namely because Robert had invited him along on his quest."

"Truey-true," beamed Andrea, "and that's how they found me, and my sister, and cousin."

"Well the load could be anything," said Andrew as he looked to the ocean. In the distance, he could see a ship coming towards their docks, "Mr Willits doesn't always need to go with Robert or any of the Freedom Railroad's employees to find locomotives for his museum. I'm just glad though that there's another person looking to save engines from their doom."

"Even if those engines never run again," sighed Carrie. "You can't help but feel sorry for them."

But Andrea had to disagree, "don't, cause while they might not run again, they can still be loved by all the people who come to see them."

"You got that right old girl," smiled Vanessa Rickles. At that moment, they were given the high ball, "welp, we better get going, these goods won't deliver themselves."

The whistle sounded and with a cheerful; "See you soon!" Andrea left the docks for Big Jim's Town.

The two Hudsons waited for another half hour before finally seeing the ship pulling up to their dock, and with the help of steam tugboats, was pushed into place. As usual, the ship snarled as it looked down to the steam locomotives, but the two hudsons payed no attention.

Crane hooks went into the hold of the ship and soon the first of the locomotives was pulled out. Andrew gasped, "5300?" Sure enough, it was one of his own brothers from the New York Central, though he looked more rusty than he himself had been when he arrived.

"So this is where you ran off to huh? I was wondering what had happened to you 5334," smiled the NYC Hudson.

"Yeah I got saved by the Freedom Railroad, oh and I have a name now. It's Andrew."

"A name huh? Well every rail-line is different I guess."

Slowly, the museum's first Hudson was placed onto the line beside Andrew. Afterwords, the crane went to get the tender. 5300 took in a deep breath and sighed, "it's good to be off that boat, it was so rocky and that ship kept complaining all the way."

"Well it was no picnic having you on board useless scrap!" snapped the ship rudely. "I can't see why anyone would want to save you."

"Because we're loved by railfans around the world, where as they could care less for ships like you."

The ship spluttered and went silent. A short while later, a second locomotive came out, making Andrew gasp once more. It was No 5344, one of the Dreyfus Hudsons, "it's been so long since we last seen you, I almost forgot what our brother's voice sounded like."

"It's only been six months 5344," chuckled Andrew.

Unlike 5300, No 5344 still retained much of the colors he had been given when he became a Dreyfus Hudson, though there were some signs of rust. Finally, once the tender was out, the final locomotive was lifted out of the ship, and she was a big one. She had the unique wheel arrangement of six front wheels, eight driving wheels and six back wheels under a big firebox.

"Is that the Pennsylvania Turbine?!" gasped Carrie, "but I thought the locomotive had been scrapped two years ago."

The big engine smiled, "I was, or so they made the world believe. Our manager couldn't bear to see me get cut up, so they had me stored away until someone would buy me."

"And I'm guessing that someone was Mr Willits?" Andrew asked.

"Indeed I was!" called a voice from the ship. The five locomotives looked and saw Mr Willits walking down with the many passengers, "the manager of the Pennsy was more than happy to give me No 6200 here, unlike the manager of the NYC."

"Don't tell me he put up a fight for you guys," said Andrew.

"You guessed right 5334, uh I mean Andrew," said 5344. "He said something about not understanding why anyone would want useless junk like us, but Mr Willits was able to convince him to get rid of us, and come to the Island."

Andrew grumbled, "once they've seen the diesels, we really did become useless in their eyes."

"Well you're here now, and so are we," smiled 5300, "and I expect that you and your friend over there are going to be taking us to the museum, am I right?"

"That would be correct," called Carrie, "and I'm called Carrie by the way, I carry the number 2823."

With Mr Willits watching, the locos were reattached to their tenders and shunted together for the journey. For the run, Andrew was at the front with 5300 behind him, followed by 5344, then 6200 and finally Carrie brought up the rear with a caboose behind her tender.

" _Line's all clear till you get to Shannon, from there, you'll take the siding,_ " said the voice over the radio.

"Roger That, museum special No 2 ready to pull out," said Michael. He looked out Andrew's cab and saw the Highball. The two Hudsons whistled off and puffed out of the docks, leaving the still stunned ship behind.

The train made it's way down the tracks, passing happy faces at the farms and on the roadways.

"These people really do care about us," smiled 6200.

Soon the train reached Shannon and took a siding to wait. They soon found out that Warren was doing a log run, Rebecca would be coming back for more track laying equipment and Andrea would be returning with empties.

"Shouldn't take them long," said Andrew to the museum engines, "but while we wait, why don't you tell us how it's going on the mainland."

5344 sighed unhappily, "it's not good. According to officials, NYC Steam will end before Christmas next year, and there's word that other railroads have already switched to diesel by now, while their steam engines sit in the scrap yards."

"They also say that by 1960, not a single steam engine will be running on the rail-lines in America," added 5300.

"Well steam will always run here," said Carrie. "Our manager Robert loves steam and wishes to keep us running, not only into the next decade, but next century and beyond."

The three museum locomotives whistled in approval of the plan.

"There are only five of us here though," added Andrew, "and unless more are found within the next few weeks, we'll have to wait till Spring 1957 for new engines. When asked why, Robert said it's too dangerous to bring more locomotives here during the winter."

"Well if it's engines your manager wants, I do know of a few of the finest engines in the United States," said 6200.

"You mean Southern Pacific's finest? I know about those ones," said 5344. "Especially that 1217."

Carrie, Andrew and their crews didn't know what they were talking about. 6200 decided to tell the story, "during the time I was being built, I heard a story about a Southern Pacific engine who sorted out a rather unique situation. Locomotive No 1217 is a small 0-6-0 switcher that worked in Santa Cruz California with several engines of his class. They served factories along the route and the town itself, and all without incident, unless of course you look to brother engine No 1216."

"The Santa Cruz line ran alongside beautiful beaches and the ocean itself. On some days, the weather was perfect and engines could move their trains with ease, but when the weather was rough, the cars would look like they would fall over. To prevent this from happening, management said all empty cars had to have something heavy inside of them, which could be removed once they reached their destinations. Most engines and factory owners didn't mind, but 1216 did."

 _"It takes too long,_ " he complained to his brothers, _"we have to sit there waiting for the cars to be loaded with meaning-less weights, and wait longer after that to have them removed before the real load can be added in."_

 _"It's for our safety brother,"_ said No 1217, _"if we didn't have those weights on board, the cars could easily fall over."_

 _"The cars can't tumble over, they're too heavy for silly winds to blow them off their wheels. All this is just because people are scared of their slight swaying. Well engines, coaches and cars do sway, it's a part of working on the railroad."_

 _"All the same, it's better to be safe than sorry."_

"1216 just snorted angerily, _"more like sorry to be late. Why I bet you that one of these days, I could go down our line on a windy day with no weights on board, and I'd still make it through with no trouble."_

 _"You wouldn't, and besides, your crew wouldn't allow you to run off without the weights on board."_

 _"Well someone's got to stop this silly belief, and believe it or not, I will be that engine to do it. You just see if I don't."_

"And sure enough, on a cool winter's day in 1949, he got his chance. During the run to the yards to get empties, No 1216 dawdled along the line, despite his engineer and fireman trying to make him go faster. He smirked all the way, _"I'll prove them wrong, I will."_

6200 cleared her throat and continued, "when he finally reached the yards, he was already twenty minutes late. A new yard foreman was angry, _"What took you guys so long to get here? You were suppose to collect those box cars and take them to where they're needed."_

 _"Sorry Sir, but our engine just didn't want to speed up for some reason,"_ said the engineer."

 _"I don't want to hear excuses, now get those cars!"_

"So they went over to get the cars. No 1216 coupled up to them and the fireman connected them, then he started to walk away, _"and where do you think you're going?"_

 _"You know where I'm going you silly engine, I'm going to ask for someone to put the weights into the cars."_

 _"Forget that garbage, we're running late as it is. Let's just go, we can make up time during the journey."_

"The fireman started to remind No 1216 about the safety measures put into place by management when the new yard foreman came over, _"I thought I told you fools to get those cars out of here!"_

 _"We can't leave till..."_

 _"I don't want to hear your excuses fireman, now get back in the cab and get moving!"_

"The new yard foreman wasn't a part of No 1216's plan, but he smirked to himself as this only helped him, _"he's right guys, we don't go now, we're going to be in big trouble with management, so let's go. I'm all coupled up, so there's nothing else that should keep us waiting."_

 _"Listen to your engine and go!"_ shouted the yard foreman."

"The fireman gave up, but as he walked into the cab, he looked to the yard foreman, " _if we encounter a problem, then it's your job on the line, not ours."_

"They started off with only two box cars and a caboose. 1216 smirked to himself, _"now this will show them_ ," but he hadn't counted on the wind. On that day, the winds were blowing and it was stronger than usual. Tractor Trailers had nearly fallen over and people were blown off their feet. As No 1216 arrived in the area, it happened. The wind blew aganist him and his train."

 _"Yeah blow all you want, you can't tip me over you silly wind!"_ And indeed the wind couldn't, but it blew hard aganist the cars. With one giant blast, the cars swayed to the side until it reached a point of no return. There came a loud crack, followed by three loud thuds and glass smashing. The engineer applied the brakes and looked back at the scene. _"What happened back there?"_

 _"You stupid engine, your cars had tipped over, they've landed on the streets!"_

 _"What?! But that's impossible!"_

 _"It would've been, had they been loaded with weights, but you held us up on purpose, and now we have a mess and we're blocking traffic. Just wait till I see that new yard foreman, I'll give him a piece of my mind."_

 _"Never mind you giving him a piece of your mind,"_ said the fireman, _"manager will take care of that, as well as dealing with No 1216."_

"And he sure did when he arrived on scene. He spoke angerily with the new yard foreman, then when told of the act, he spoke firmly with No 1216, _"you've always said wind can't blow you over, well now you've been proven wrong. You will go to the factories and stay there out of sight."_

"No 1216 puffed away, and shortly after, No 1217 arrived with a crane. The workers looked over the scene, but soon came to the manager with bad news, _"We can't rerail the cars here, they'll blow over faster than we can put them up."_

 _"Oh great, and with that wind getting stronger, it'll mean we'll have to wait a while before we can clean up the mess."_

 _"Yeah, uh Sir, you might want to tell that to the drivers of those cars."_ Sure enough, waiting near the wreckage were dozens of cars waiting to go down the road."

"No 1217 looked at the scene, then down the tracks and remembered that further down, the wind wasn't as strong, _"Sir, I have an idea, but it's risky and no one's ever done this before."_

 _"I'm listening 1217."_

 _"What if we dragged the cars down the line as is, then we can rerail them away from the winds."_

"The manager stared in disbelief. It would mean some damage to the road, and to the equipment, but the other option would mean delaying other people in what they needed to do."

 _"Very well then, let's give it a try. We'll inform the police to clear the roads, then you can do the rest No 1217."_

"They attached strong chains to the first derailed car, while police officers cleared the roads, and soon all was ready. _"Here we go,"_ puffed No 1217. His whistle sounded and he started off slowly. The cars made a terrible screeching sound along the road, but with the path cleared, they were able to move the derailed train. Police officers drove behind to keep an eye on the fallen train, and would let their sirens wail if they saw intense smoke. The wind still blew at them, threatening to move the cars towards buildings and side streets, but thankfully they didn't."

"They continued on with each puff until No 1217 stopped at a spot that while not free from the winds, was good enough to allow the rescue job to begin. They first rerailed the first car, then the second and finally came the caboose. The manager and workers were pleased, " _Well done No 1217, you certainly are a clever engine, and now we can get these cars out of the way."_

"However, the front coupler had been broken off during the tumble and would most likely still be attached to No 1216."

"Still, No 1217 took the cars, using the crane's helping hook, to where they needed to go. In spite of some scratches, they were still good for usage, while the caboose got replacement windows. As for No 1216, the manager spoke real firmly with him and explained more than ever of how important weights were for empty cars."

 _"I'm sorry Sir, I didn't think..."_

 _"Oh but you were thinking, just a shame you weren't thinking about safety. I am disappointed in you young engine, I can only hope you learn from all of this. Now, will someone get that broken coupler out of his tender coupling?"_

"Did he learn anything from the experience?" Andrew asked as the story was drawing to a close.

"Indeed he did," said 6200, "although he was still cocky, No 1216 made a vow never to leave the railyards without some weights aboard. As for that yard foreman, he kept his job, but was watched over very carefully by inspectors for a full year." No 6200 thought hard, "if I remember correctly, 1217 was last seen in the area just two years ago, maybe he's still somewhere near there. Just in case your manager wants to find him that is."

 _Although freight cars tipping over doesn't usually happen, if they are empty and the winds are strong, they could be blown over. Similar event has happened to a tractor trailer on the Sky Bridge in Ontario Canada in 2017 as it was blown over by strong winds and had to have the trailer dragged down the bridge before being put back onto it's wheels._


	18. Book 5 Story 2-The Tehachapi Landing

_**The Tehachapi Landing**_

Warren whistled a greeting as he passed the train of locomotives. Behind him were fifteen loaded flatbds full of logs bound for the docks, as these had been ordered by a company in Montreal Quebec Canada.

"Is that locomotive the biggest engine you have in your fleet?" 6200 the Turbine engine asked.

"Indeed he is, for the time being," answered Carrie. "But he never lets his size or power get to him, he's a kind hearted engine, unlike the one that attacked his line."

6200 was about to ask about that when 5300 spoke up, "ah yes, the '178' incident on the California Western."

"You've heard of it?" Andrew asked in surprise. "When I worked on the NYC, I heard nothing about the attack, and neither have any of the other locomotives. We all had to learn about it from Warren upon his arrival."

"Stories do spread Brother," said 5300, "I heard about it when I was in Chicago from a Chicago North Western loco, who heard it from the Southern Pacific. Tragic event that is, but at least 178 didn't get away with his crimes."

"Indeed," agreed 5344, the Dreyfus hudson. "Though, you're not the only one to hear stories from Chicago. And strangely enough, the story I heard almost ended in tragady itself."

Carrie raised an eyebrow, "can you tell us?" She really wanted to know this story, especially since Rebecca and Andrea hadn't passed yet.

5344 agreed and began; "well the story begins on the Southern Pacific on a section known as the Tehachapi Loop. It is located just 18 miles from the mountain summit itself, and is a grand landmark to railroaders and railfans alike. It is one of a few places where crews and engines can catch a glimpse of the tail end of their train, all the while climbing or descending down the loop itself. The Southern Pacific often ran steam engines like Cab Forwards and Daylights along that line, but sometimes other engines would use that line too."

"The engine of our story is a special breed of Daylight Locomotive, the GS-5; number 4458. A slightly modified version of the popular GS-4 locomotives, this class was a favourite to rail-crews due to smooth riding and just a little bit more extra power than the older types. There were two engines of the class; 4458 and 4459." 5344 chuckled before continuing, "there are rumours stating that crews would get into fist fights over who would take the locomotives out."

"By 1951, the locomotives had lost their fancy Daylight colours and the skirting along their sides, not to mention they were in deep trouble due to diesels. Many of which were very rude to the locomotives and said their only fate was the scrap heap. But they didn't care, _'as long as we have steam and determination, we're not going to disappear anytime soon.'_ They would always say to anyone who would listen."

"Now that we got those details out of the way, here's the tale itself," continued 5344. "It was 1953, and the Southern Pacific was still using steam, but it was more alas being used for freight service instead of passenger runs. Diesels were running the passenger trains, but they were always grumpy, and on the morning of April 19th, 4458 heard such grumbling from a new diesel."

" _'Management says that we're losing passengers to those stupid airplanes,'_ grumbled a FA unit in black, orange and grey. _'We diesels always thought that when you rust buckets were finally removed from passenger runs, then we'd get our passengers back, but they still go up in those stupid useless things'."_

 _" 'It's up to the people themselves of who or what they will travel with,'_ said 4458, _'You can't just force them to travel with you'."_

 _" 'True, but diesel powered trains are much better to travel with. I mean, you can see the sights clearly, and go at good speeds. Airplanes from their height make everything look small, which is silly.' "_

"4458 wasn't a fan of the airplanes herself, but she at least had an open mind, _'perhaps things look small from the air, but airplanes can go faster than us, and can go to places we can't, like England, France or Italy.' "_

"The diesel looked crossly to 4458, _'you're not only old, dirty and useless, but you're a complete idiot. Airplanes and steam engines are useless, and should make way for the better modes of transportation. Namely me and my kind'_ it was at that moment, the conductor gave a high-ball signal and the diesel, along with it's train, rattled away."

" _'Silly diesel, arrogant and close minded, that's a dangerous combintation if I ever did see it'. "_

 _" 'Rude as he may be, I have to agree with him that I don't understand why people would want to travel on planes,'_ said her engineer of the day, _'there was an incident I read about two nights ago where one of those De Haviland Comets failed to take off, and sadly crashed, killing 11 people on board. And then look to the DC-7 planes, I've heard of several incidents, mostly due to those propellers.' "_

 _" 'Okay Planes are not perfect, but then again nothing is,'_ said the fireman that day, _'sometimes mistakes are made, but they are soon corrected and I bet more than anything, air travel will become better than it is now'."_

 _" 'I hope not, otherwise we're all doomed here on the rails,'_ the engineer shuddered at that moment, _'no passengers means fewer trains, and what if freight companies decide to ship by air, what will happen to us then?' "_

 _" 'Oh yes, I didn't think on that,_ ' said the fireman."

" _'Maybe airplanes will get better as time will go on,'_ said 4458, _'but there will always be people who will want to travel by rail, and to see locomotives like myself, or even those modern diesels, which means we're safe and you guys won't lose your jobs.'_ "

" _'I hope you're right old girl'."_

"Meanwhile, high above the ground, a brand new DC-7 airplane was flying along. The pilots were doing everything to give their passengers a grand ride, and to keep to time, _'How are we doing for time Skipper?'_ asked the Captain."

" _'Doing really good actually,'_ replied the first officer, _'We're twenty minutes ahead of schedule.' "_

 _" 'Well let's just hope we can keep it that way,'_ smiled the Captain. He truely loved it when they ran to perfect time, or arrived early as it was good for their company; United Airlines. He reached over, ready to grab the microphone to allow him to speak with the passengers, when it happened. There was a loud bang and the plane shuddered, _'what was that?'_ cried the Captain."

"The Co-Pilot looked out their right side window and gasped in horror, ' _captain, we just lost our right side engine!' "_

 _"What?! But that's impossible.'_ The First Officer got up from his seat and looked out the window to see, and gasped in horror as a blown out engine was all that was left of a once working propeller engine. ' _Right then, we can't stay in the air, we need to land this plane now'."_

"The Co-Pilot agreed and got on the Radio, _'mayday, mayday, we have just lost an engine, and we need to land as soon as possible'."_

 _" 'Ladies and Gentleman,'_ said the captain into the microphone, ' _we have just lost our right side engine, but do not worry, we'll be diverting to another airport and will be on the ground before you know it. Sorry for the inconvience'._ No sooner had he said those words, then more trouble began. The other engine was now sputtering, ' _oh you got to be kidding me, we're losing the other engine'? "_

 _" 'But Captain, we only have two engines,_ ' said the Co-Pilot, ' _without them...' "_

 _" 'Yes I'm aware what that means.'_ The Captain grabbed the radio and called out, ' _mayday, mayday, this is Flight 75 from United Airlines, we've lost one engine and we're losing another one. Where's the nearest airport? Does anyone copy?' "_

"Down the line, 4458 was puffing along with a long line of box cars loaded with materials for other destinations beyond Tehachapi. The journey was smooth, as usual," smirked 5344, "and all was peaceful until the radio crackled into life, _'Mayday, mayday, we're losing our engines. We need help, does anyone read? Over?!' "_

 _" 'Losing engines, that doesn't sound like a railroad radio call,'_ said 4458, ' _if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that was an airplane call.' "_

 _" 'I think you're right Girl,'_ said the fireman."

"He and the engineer listened more to the radio, but for a while there was no reply, apart from regular chatter from other trains. At the station before the Loop, the chatter began again."

" _'Mayday! Mayday! This is the Captain of Flight 75 from United Airlines, we've now lost both engines, we've also got injuries on board. We need a direct route to the nearest airport. Anyone copy?' "_

"The diesel from earlier smirked as he stood by his platform, ' _ha, that proves that diesel trains are better than silly airplanes, you'd never hear us having problems.' "_

 _" 'Oh get down from your high throne,'_ snapped 4458, _'there are innocent people on board that plane, and if they don't land safely, their lives could be lost'. "_

"4458's fireman grabbd the radio and called in, ' _Flight 75, we hear you loud and clear, where abouts are you right you? Do you see any landmarks below?' "_

"There was silence over the radio, then they heard the answer, ' _We're about 19 miles from Tehachapi Mountain Summit'."_

 _" '19 miles, that means they're getting close to the Loop'."_

 _" 'So, what's that suppose to mean?'_ snarled the FA Diesel, _'if you're thinking about helping those idiots that are on that silly thing, then you are a fool. I'm not going to help, they made their choice and they're going to stick with it.' "_

Andrew and Carrie gasped upon hearing this bit of the story, while Brock looked like he was about ready to punch one of the cab walls.

"Hearing that comment from the FA diesel, 4458 got angry and wheeshed steam at the stupid engine, _'how you can be so cruel I'll never know. But if that's how you feel, you can stay here and we'll go help them'._ And with that, 4458 puffed on towards the loop."

"As they neared the loop, the fireman called into the radio again, ' _United Flight 75, do you see Tehachapi Loop by chance?' "_

 _" 'Yes we do, we're getting very close to the loop,_ ' came the answer, then a question followed, ' _Are you an Air Traffic Controller?' "_

 _" 'That would be a big No there Flight 75, we are Southern Pacific Steam Train 4458. We're near the loop and ready to help.' "_

 _" 'Southern Pacific steam train? Well considering we've heard nothing from Air Traffic, I guess you guys are better than nothing at all, but we don't know where to land that's close enough to you.' "_

"4458 thought about it, then an idea came to her and she asked for her fireman to direct the radio in her direction, _'see if you can land close to the tracks just before the loop. From there, you won't have far to reach us'."_

 _" 'Roger that SP 4458, we'll take your advice and hope to see you once we've touched down'."_

"Up above, the captain and Co-Pilot had to wrestle the controls in order to get them close to the tracks. Without power, it wasn't easy to pilot that plane, but they managed it. 4458 and her crew watched as the plane came into view, and for the first time, they could see the serious damage the plane had taken on."

" _'Do land safely,'_ said 4458 with hope."

 _" 'Brace for landing! Brace for landing!'_ shouted the captain, and all the passengers and crew braced themselves. The landing gear touched the ground hard, but still remained on the ground as they rolled. But now there was another problem. With no power, the brakes were useless. The captain made a decision, ' _looks like the railroad will help us in more ways than one'._ With the aid of the Co-Pilot once more, they turned the plane towards the train tracks. They bumped along the ties and ballast, creating quite a bumpy ride, but the idea worked as the plane slowed down until it came to a stop. The pilots smiled, ' _We're down, and we're all in one piece!'_ This was met with cheers from the cabin."

"The passengers were let out of the plane as 4458 puffed up to the group of people. Some had been injuried due to shockwaves from the explosion of the right engine."

" _'Glad to see you made it down Flight 75,_ ' smiled 4458, _'now, would any of you like a ride back to the last station? We can get you help from there, and maybe find out why no one responded to you'."_

"The passengers and crew boarded the box cars with no complaints. After what they had been through, they'd take a freight train anytime."

"The crew radioed the station and told them to get emergency services there. The injuried passengers were seen to at once, and happily, none were severe, and went home to their families later that night, but not by plane as I'll explain in a minute. When management heard, they scolded the FA unit for not offering to help, and for the rude comment as well, _'Travelling by air or rail, it doesn't matter, they are living beings and if they need help, you do your best to help them. If you can't do that, then your future might not be so bright after all.'_ The FA diesel gulped, wondering what the manager meant by that."

"He turned to 4458, _'you and your crew performed like heroes today, and it was a good thing too. Turns out the nearest air Traffic tower had lost power due to a storm in the area, so no one else could hear their cries for help, except you. For you two men, you will both recieve raises and 4458, you deserve a new paintjob and...'_ he paused impressively, _'I would like you and your crew to take the passengers of Flight 75 to Los Angelis, as that's where they were going. Think you can do that for us?' "_

"They didn't need to think it over, they gladly took the passengers home, much to the dismay and disgust of the FA Diesel. As for the plane, well it was recovered just five hours after it landed. At least it was taken away in one piece and with everyone alive, and not the other way around," concluded 5344.

The other engines and their crews were glad for the good outcome of the event.


	19. Book 5 Story 3-The Mighty Ace

_**The Mighty Ace**_

Just minutes after the 4458 story came to an end, Rebecca puffed through, whistling a friendly greeting to the new museum engines. Minutes later, Andrea blasted through with her empties, and like always, she had a big wide grin on her face. With the line now clear, the museum trian was able to continue on towards the McKenna Railroad museum.

"I have to admit that 1217 and 4458 are fine locomotives to hear about," Carrie said to the new engines, "though those diesels are another story. If that one is so disrespectful, I can only imagine what the other ones are like. No respect the little buggers."

5300 spoke in next, "I know that last story put the diesels in a bad light, but not all of them were bad. It's like any type of engine, there are some that are kind and caring, others that can't be bothered and others, like the one that was mentioned can be horrible. But in all, they can be nice when need be. As I recall, I heard about that third and last finest engine; the AC-9."

"Okay then Brother, tell us about that engine and the diesels you were mentioning," said Andrew, "we've still got a bit of a way's to go."

5300 happily obliged; "the story takes place in 1951, along a section of track that is scary to any newcomers and the steepest too; The Cajon Pass Route. It's a twisty turny type line, then straightens out before going around a curve at the bottom, which if not taken lightly, could result in a nasty derailment. New diesels were often told of this, but sometimes they were just too scared to go down that hill for fear of losing their trains. This resulted in trouble for the company that bigger, more experienced engines were brought over to help them."

"One of those engines was known as the Reverse Cab Forwards, same design as the Cab Forwards, but the engine is not facing backwards. They were often referred to as the AC-9 class of engines, ranging in the 3800 numbers. The engine of our story is Number 3808, a kindly engine who would stand no nonscene from bullies like the Mojave yard manager. You see, the manager hated steam engines ever since he was a boy, reason why is unknown, but it didn't matter. His attitude stunk, and he continued to bother the steamers any chance he got."

"It was a cool spring morning as 3808 was getting his tender fillied up. A new set of F Units stopped nearby to be given an inspection by the engineer, _'the brakes are not sounding too good, better check to make sure they're alright,_ ' he said to his lead engine."

"Right away, 3808 could tell that the lead engine and his friend behind him were worried, _'Faulty brakes my friends?' "_

 _" 'You could say that,'_ said the lead diesel, _'Engineer says they've been making the worst kind of sounds imaginable, and we're due to take a train down the pass real soon'."_

 _" 'We could end up flying off the tracks,'_ said the diesel behind him, _'I don't want to go flying off the tracks. I want to stay on my rails.' "_

"3808 showed a supportive smile, _'no one would be crazy enough to send you down the pass without proper brakes. Once management knows, they'll have you two taken to the workshops to be mended, then you'll be ready for it.' "_

 _" 'Do you really think so 3808?'_ asked the lead diesel."

" _'Oh sure, we've had that happen plenty of times before, even the old timers have had their brakes wear out. Nothing lasts forever you know, and the Southern Pacific knows that. So don't worry youngsters, you'll be fine.' "_

 _" 'Hey you two,'_ shouted a voice. They all looked and saw the yard manager, _'you have a train to take down the pass, so get over to your cars this instant.' "_

"The two diesels looked worried, but 3808 gave a firm look, _'Their brakes need a good looking over, so they can't take the train right now. I'll take it for them'."_

 _" 'Oh no you won't you old bucket of bolts. I want the more modern machines doing this work, and you to go away to a scrap yard'."_

 _" 'Well it's not your choice of if I stay or go. And any rate, you know how steep Cajon Pass is. Two diesels with faulty brakes simply won't do. I suggest sending the youngsters to the workshop to be looked over, and let me take the train'."_

"The yard manager looked like he was going to explode, but in the end agreed it wasn't safe. So he sent the pair of diesels away, and 3808 went to collect the cars. Once out of his sight though, the yard manager kicked the ground, _'One of these days I got to show up that stupid steamer once and for all. Diesels can handle loads, they are better'."_

"As the day wore on, more freight came into the yards and was to be taken over Cajon Pass. An old Pacific was taking a train of tankers and box cars when suddenly, he came to a grinding and shuddering hault."

" _'What's going on?'_ asked 2465."

"His crew inspected the brake blocks and soon gave the answer, _'Your brake blocks have locked on and won't let go without the air from another engine. Looks like your run is done for today'."_

 _" 'Oh dang it,'_ groaned the pacific, ' _but what about this cargo. It needs to get to West Colton before tonight'."_

"The rude yard manager overheard and sniggered to himself, _'now I'll show Southern Pacific and the stupid steamers what diesels can really do'._ And he walked over to the shops where the diesels were still being inspected."

" _'You two will definetly need new brakes. I'll have them ordered in two days, then you can handle any loads you are given'."_

"The diesels sighed in relief, until the yard manager came over, _'you two, collect some B-Units and take over that failed pacific's train'."_

 _" 'Are you crazy?'_ asked the worker that had spoken with the diesels, _'They are in no shape to go anywhere. They need new brakes, so they can't go anywhere for a while'."_

 _" 'Care to bring this up with management? Cause that train's due for West Colton, and unless delivered, it's going to stay where it is, and all our jobs will be on the line. Mostly yours. Besides, with B-Units, they'll have more than enough braking power to make it down. No problem'."_

 _" 'Famous last words',_ sighed the worker. ' _Fine, we'll send them out, but don't say I didn't warn you'."_

"That sounds a bit like 1217's story," interupted Carrie as they came through the town of McGinnis. The two hudsons whistled as they passed the cars, trucks and buses, and of course, whistling to the people who waved to them.

"Yes, it is surprising how similar that part of the event is to the first story, but what happens next is different," said 5300 and continued. "The two diesels collected their B-Units from nearby and went to collect their train."

"By now, 3808 was returning from another job and was just about to get some water from the water tower when he heard some honking horns. He looked and gasped to see the worried diesels backing down towards the stricken pacific's train. 2465 had already been removed by the yard goat."

" _Either they've been given the fastest repair job ever, or they're leaving with the same faulty brakes,'_ 3808 said to his crew."

" _'Judging from the looks on their faces, I'd say it's the latter,'_ said the fireman."

"They watched a few minutes later when the train pulled out of the Mojave railyard and onto the line leading to Cajon Pass. The Yard Manager walked over with a smirk, ' _they're taking a train one of your pals failed to take, so now you'll know who's better'."_

 _" 'Were their brakes mended or at least replaced?' "_

 _" 'Not really, but I gave them B-Units, so that should help'."_

 _" 'You block-head, those B-Units won't help with a train that long. They'll never make it, not without us'."_

"The engineer got the idea, and opened the reverser. Despite the yard manager screaming for them to stop, they didn't and went off after the train. 3808 hoped more than ever that he would catch up before it was too late."

"Meanwhile, the new diesels were rattling along, and using the turns in the line, they were able to keep their train going at a good pace. Once through the curves though, that's when their troubles began."

" ' _Uh Engineer, should we be speeding along here?'_ asked the lead diesel."

" _We might be gaining some speed, but we should be fine',_ he replied, though he didn't sound very confident. He kept applying braking power, and this time, he smiled as he heard the sound of brakes, _'they're working fine now, we'll be okay'."_

"But they wouldn't for long. For you see, while the brakes were making the sounds they do make, they were working half and half, which meant their speed wasn't going down, it was more alas speeding up. The lead diesel could feel it, and so could his pal behind him. The engineer applied the brakes even more till they were on full, but it didn't help. Soon smoke was rising from the brake-blocks and they were speeding up."

"Meanwhile, 3808 was racing down the line as fast and safely as he could, ' _can you see the youngster's train?'_ he called up to the fireman."

"The fireman was on top of the tender, keeping an eye open for the train and ready to help couple up, _'not yet, they're not...oh wait, there they are, and they're increasing speed!' "_

 _" 'Then so are we,'_ said the engineer, _'hold on to your cover-alls, cause here we go'."_

"He opened the reverser even more and 3808 picked up the pace. Judging from the signs they passed, he knew it wouldn't be long till they reached the sharp bend at the bottom of the hill. It had to be taken at no more than 25 miles per hour, ' _how fast are we going?' "_

 _" 'Sixty, and judging from their speed, I'd say Seventy'."_

"3808 raced on with every ounce of speed he had. At last, he caught the tail-end of the train and was easily coupled up by the fireman."

" _'Alright you two, listen up, go into reverse and push with all your might, we'll slow the train down on our end!'_ 3808 shouted to the diesels, who happily agreed to the plan."

"They were still scared, as anyone would be in that moment, but they were thrown into reverse to make up for lack of brakes. 3808 applied his brakes as hard he could, making sparks fly away from them."

"At the bottom of the hill, some people waited to photograph the next train. One could see headlights, and backed up nervously, _'they're going awfully fast down there. I don't think they're slowing down'."_

 _" 'They have to, or they'll derail,'_ said his buddy, then realised, ' _right where we're standing'."_

"They all backed up, feeling uneasy as they watched the train getting closer. At first, the train wasn't slowing down, even with 3808 helping, but soon they slowed to fifty, then forty... _'Now it's thirty five,'_ said 3808's fireman. ' _That's still too fast for the curve'."_

 _" 'We've done all we can, now it's up to fate,'_ sighed the engineer."

"The diesels came to the curve, howling and screaming like banshees. The lead diesel felt his right side wheels leave the rails, he was scared out of his wits, but it was only for a few seconds as his wheels came back down and they coasted through the curve and onwards towards West Colton. The railfans by the lineside wiped their foreheads and sighed, while one fainted."

" _'Okay, that was too close,'_ said one of them."

"The train went on to West Colton where the yard manager there wasted no time in getting the locos off the train and having the cars dealt with. The two young diesels sighed in relief, ' _thank you for saving us 3808, that yard manager nearly had us derail and all for what, to show you up? What was he even thinking?' "_

 _" 'Oh I know what he was thinking,'_ grumbled 3808. _'But my brakes weren't enough, pushing back aganist the train certainly helped. It was a true team effort back there'."_

 _" 'I guess it was,'_ said the back diesel."

" _'But now we're going to be in trouble when management hears,'_ said the front diesel with fear, _'they'll say it's our fault cause we were going too fast'."_

 _" 'Oh someone will be blamed, but it won't be you or your engineer,'_ he then whispered, ' _if they come talking to you, just be truthful and tell them the whole series of events. Trust me, you will be cleared of any wrong doing'."_

"Turns out they had no need to do that, for when the engineer told the manager and dispatcher at the West Colton yards of how they ended up on the train, it would be the yard manager of Majove that would get the blame."

"Management called him in and asked for his side, and of course he stated he was trying to out shine 3808 and the other steamers. When they heard about the rude comments, and behaviour, management decided he was not worth having around. He was fired, and a new manager was brought in, and from what I heard, he was much friendlier to deal with. Last I heard," 5300 added, "was that the old manager got a job working as a chef at a diner in the town, never meant to be seen or heard from by the public, and as for the rest of the employees, well they don't bother listening to him anyways."

"Serves him right," said Andrew as they finally arrived at the museum, "but what about 3808?"

"Well he stayed till maybe last year when he was retired. Last I heard, he was moved to the same area as 1217 and 4458, so unless they have been scrapped, maybe they're all still there."

Andrew and Carrie soon shunted the museum engines into the museum alongside and behind the Nickel Plate Engines, thanked them for the stories and set off for their sheds.

When evening came around, they told Warren, Rebecca and Andrea about the Southern Pacific's finest and agreed something had to be done.

"If they're still around, they should be preserved like us," said Carrie, "and it has to be fast before Robert calls back all the employees searching on the Mainland."

"You're right lassie," said Warren, "one of us should tell Robert right away."

"Tell me what?" asked a voice from the doorway. The engines and the crews looked and saw Robert coming in, "I came in to see how you're all doing, and I hear you have something to say."

"Indeed Sir," said Rebecca. "Carrie and Andrew heard about three engines on the Southern Pacific, and knowing you love steam locomotives, we think you should get them before it's too late. We hate to be bold, but we hate the idea of those engines going away after all they've done."

Robert stared at the engines, "yes it is bold of you to speak to me like this. But I'm not upset. You are correct, I do love steam locomotives and if these three are still around, they must be saved before the winter season rolls in. Now then, Andrew and Carrie, what are the engine's numbers?"

"1217 is a S10 switcher, 4458 is a GS-5 Daylight Northern, and 3808 is a AC-9 Reverse Cab Forward," they said.

"Right then, in that case, I got a phone call to make," and with that, he turned to leave for his office. He returned a moment later, "by the way, good work today with the run."

"Thank you Sir," said Andrew and Carrie in unison.

Once in his office, Robert dailed a number and moments later, got a response on the other end of the phone, "hello there, my name is Robert of the Freedom Railroad, and I'd to ask about three steam engines. They are numbers 1217, 4458 and 3808, do you still have them, or have they been scrapped? Oh, they've been retired, but still around? They're in Richmond California? Yes I'd to buy all three of them for the line. We have someone out there that can meet your yard manager. Okay thank you very much. Alright bye."

He hung up and dailed another number. It was a tiny bit longer of a wait, but soon he got a reply, "Kelly, this is Robert, you're in the Richmond California region right?"

"Yes why?" came the reply.

"I got a job for you, and it must be done right away."

 _The faulty brakes and losing them on Cajon Pass was based on the events leading up to the derailment of Train 7551 in 1989._


	20. Book 5 Story 4-The Finest Engines

_**The Finest Engines**_

In Richmond California, several lines of locomotives sat in the scrap yard, and all of which were in various states of repair. Some more serious than others. Agmost these engines were 3808, 4458 and 1217. 1217 was towards the back of a long line, and several engines ahead was 4458. Two lines over was 3808.

"It's the End! It's the End!" shouted 1216, "we're doomed, we're going to be scrapped. Why don't they hurry up and cut us up! I can't stand it!"

"Oh be quiet you old troublemaker!" snapped 1217. "Honestly, you're giving the rest of us headaches."

"You should hear the GS-2s up here!" shouted 3808 from his line-up. "They bark moreso than 1216 back there."

4458 sighed, "it's a shame really, they were in good states of mind when they were running, and now spending a few years in this scrap yard have made them lose it. They don't even think salvation could happen to them."

"Indeed not 4458," said 1217. "Personally, if someone wanted to buy me, I'd jump at the chance to return to the main line, or maybe work in a freight yard."

"Wouldn't we all?" smiled 3808. He sighed though as he looked to the main line, "until then, we can only wait and remain hopeful."

"Hopeful? There is no hope for us!" shouted 1216. 1217 shouted at him again, which silenced the shunter at once.

Leaving the hotel, a rented 1956 Chevy car headed out towards the scrap yards in Richmond. The person driving the car was Kelly Burden, one of the few female employees to be asked by Robert to search the United States for steam locomotives for the fleet. She wasn't alone as she had her sixteen year old son; Albert Burden, and much like his mother, was a worker for the Freedom Railroad, and loved steam locomotives as much as she and the other employees did.

"So for sure all three locomotives are at this scrap yard?" Albert asked his mother.

"According to Robert, the answer is most definetly yes, though he didn't say of where they are in the yards. So your job will be to find these engines, while I deal with the scrap manager."

"Hopefully this one won't drive us away like those at the Western Pacific yards did."

"Yeah that wasn't a pleasant experience." Kelly shuddered remembering some of the more colorful words that were said during their own visit to the yards. "I don't think Robert will pass up at the chance to get those locomotives, though hopefully third time will do the charm."

"Well I like to wish whoever tries dealing with the Western Pacific the best of luck," grumbled Albert.

"They'll be fine, as long as they deal with the owners and not that grumpy old yard manager."

After much driving, they arrived at the Richmond Scrap Yards, where they were greeted by a man in overalls, "thank goodness there are people like you and your Freedom Railroad that wish to save these beautiful machines. You know, when one of them is scrapped, it's like having a heart attack every time."

"Hurts that bad huh?" Kelly asked.

"Yep, mostly due to my love interest in steam locomotives. Now which ones was it that your owner wanted?"

"3808, 4458 and 1217."

"Alright then, follow me you two and we'll start looking for them."

So they followed the scrapper into the yard, and right away found 4458. By now, the once beautiful northern had lost the shine of her paintwork and had some rust spots on the boiler and wheels.

"Hmm, there's definetly some rust on her, but she's not too bad to look at. I think once she gets into the workshops, Mr Mason will get her running in no time."

"Running in no time? Wait, are you saying that...?"

"That's correct 4458, you're being saved and going to work on a new railroad; The Freedom Railroad to exact."

3808 smiled when he heard this, "well that's wonderful news to hear. You're lucky 4458, make sure you do us all proud."

Kelly, Albert and the scrapper turned around to see 3808. He had a bit more rust on him than 4458, but he didn't look too bad at all.

"You know I will old friend, I just wish I didn't have to leave you," said 4458.

Kelly smiled as she looked back to 4458, "you don't need to leave him, cause he's coming too."

"Say what now?" 3808 asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You heard correctly," said Kelly as her son began looking around for 1217, "you're also being purchased for the Freedom Railroad, and considering our line is going to get busier than ever, we're definetly going to need engines like you there."

3808 blinked several times, "have I finally lost it?"

"Nope, this is for real. And before you ask, you're not the first to ask that kind of question, our other engines have asked that question in some form before."

4458 though was confused, "how did your owner know about us?"

"Robert was told by Carrie and Andrew, two of our engines, who heard about your stories from the McKenna museum's latest engines. They spoke of the Airplane rescue, the runaway train of Cajon pass and the tipped over box cars."

"Tipped over box cars, but neither one of us dealt with that...unless," it suddenly came to 3808's mind, "are you also getting 1217?"

"Indeed we are," Kelly nodded. "That's why I sent my son out to find him."

Albert searched through the long line of steam locomotives. Many of which just stared in shock at him. 1216 screamed loudly, "The end is here! Today's our day to go! I don't want to be here anymore!"

"Oh shut up you little tyke!" snapped 1217. "Hey boy, you looking for me?"

Albert walked past 1216, and found 1217, "yup, I was looking for you, but how..."

"Just because I'm farther back than the others doesn't mean I can't hear anything. Although I will admit I'd rather be over there and not here with this screaming loco in front of me."

"Well you won't be sitting here for too long, cause we're getting you out of here and over to the Freedom Railroad."

"And what kind of work would I be doing over there?"

"Oh some freight services, passenger runs and if things keep getting busy, we might need a shunter in the yards."

"Shunting in a freight yard?! Well why didn't you say that sooner? Sign me up, I'm ready to go."

Once the locomotives were bought, it was time to move them out and to the main yards where they would be taken along the main line to the nearest dockyards. Much to 3808's surprise, the diesels brought in to move them were the ones he helped save on Cajon Pass.

"Well isn't this a fine switch, I saved you two, now you're saving me," he smiled.

"Yeah, it feels good to repay the debt," smiled the lead diesel. "We'll have you out here in no time."

3808 was uncoupled from 4412, a GS-2 Daylight locomotive, and moved over to a siding nearby. The way the train was going to be made up was that 3808 would be at the front with flatcars in front and behind, then 4458 would be behind him and 1217 would bring up the rear. The reason for the flatcars was to give the diesels more power for the brakes, and to allow the locos a chance to see where they were going.

4458 was a little difficult to move because when she had been put into her siding, her brakes were left hard on, and no matter what anyone tried, they wouldn't let go.

"See, this is a sign that we're not suppose to leave!" shouted 1216.

"No one said you're leaving old loud-mouth, now be quiet and let them work on a plan," snapped 1217.

4412, the GS-2 made a suggestion, "if 4458's brakes won't come off, why not cut them off? Sounds like your works can fix anything, so I'm sure they wouldn't mind repairing them."

Kelly shrugged, "well I can't think of anything else, so looks like we'll have to do that. That'll mean more work for the diesels."

"We'll do our best," said the back diesel.

So with a torch in hand, Kelly cut the brakes of 4458 and finally, the diesels could move her over to the yards next to 3808. Before leaving to get 1217, they placed wood blocks in front of the driving wheels.

"Be back soon," Kelly said as she went back to watch the operation unfold.

As they stood in the yard, 3808 spoke with 4458, "I think when we get to the Freedom Railroad, we should let 1217 be restored first. After everything he has to deal with, it would only be fair."

4458 happily agreed to the idea, "and for sure, he'll be in better company with those workers than 1216 back there."

"Oh that's for dang sure," smiled 3808.

Sadly, getting 1217 out was a little more difficult. 1216, as anyone would expect did not want his brother to leave, he felt 1217 should be there to be scrapped like the rest of them, so he made his brakes go on and wouldn't let go.

"Move the other engines first, then cut 1216's brakes," suggested Albert.

The plan was agreed upon, and after half an hour, the brakes were cut and 1216 was moved away. Finally, the diesels could move 1217 to the yards to finally see 3808 and 4458.

"Well locos, we'd like to thank you for your time, and for you 4412, thank you for the idea," Kelly said to the former Daylight.

"Glad I could be of some help, and now I feel stupid for groaning and wishing to be scrapped," he sighed. "I mean, if those three can be saved, maybe there is hope for the rest of us."

"And indeed there is hope. We, or any of the other Freedom Railroad employees could come back, or maybe we'll make mention of you to Mr Willits, he operates a museum in the town of McKenna."

"A museum, oh now that would be great," smiled 4412.

The Scrapper came over, "they're getting your train ready to go."

"Thanks, and if possible, can you maybe leave No 4412 alone? I'm sure if I tell Mr Willits about him, he'll want to get this Daylight."

The Scrapper nodded, "I'll make sure he's not touched, but you better tell Mr Willits to get here as soon as he can, cause it's up to Southern Pacific of when these engines are to be scrapped."

"Oh don't worry, once Mr Willits learns of this place and these locos, he'll be here faster than you can say 'watch this'."

Kelly and Albert both thanked the scrapper for his time, then went over to the yards. They discovered several workers placing red cables around 4458, "it's to help with the air-brake system along the train," they said.

Soon all was ready, though there was still one thing that needed to be dealt with. "Before we get you to the Freedom Railroad, we need to give you names, as all of our locos have them. Now, what to call you all?"

"If I may," called 1217, "I've always liked the name of Jack. Cause truth be told, my old engineer used to say I was a Jack of all Trades."

"Okay then, Jack it will be." Kelly looked to 4458, "now for you." Kelly thought about it, then a name came to her, "I've always liked the name of Jessica, and to be honest, you do look like one."

"Jessica huh? Hmm, that's a good name, I'll take it."

"Good, now for 3808."

"Uh Mom, I got a name for him," said Albert.

"Oh yeah, and what would that name be?"

"Well I was thinking of Ace," he answered. "After, he is an AC-9, and it sounds close enough. Plus, he's a cool Ace, am I right?"

"Uh, sure I guess." Sometimes Albert said things Kelly didn't quite understand. "Either way, it does sound like a good name for a locomotive like him. Is that what you want 3808?"

"Of course I would like the name," he smiled.

"Good, now then, let's get to the docks and get you to your new home."

The three Southern Pacific locomotives said their good-byes to their class-mates, cousins and friends until they left the yard and made their way onto the main line.

A few days later, Rebecca, Warren and Andrea were waiting at the docks for the new arrivals. They had been surprised to hear that the Southern Pacific's finest had been bought and were on their way, but by this time, they were all smiles and eager to learn about their old 'neck of the woods' sort to speak.

"Good thing they're getting here now," said Rebecca as she looked up to the grey cloud covered sky, "cause from the looks of those clouds, we might get snow this evening."

"I think it'll be interesting to work in the snow," said Andrea, "I bet everything will look beautiful, and I'll be spending the season with good friends, er no, family."

"Aye lassie, that will be good, though we still need to be careful since it can be difficult to work in," said Warren.

A loud horn sounded in the distance, singalling the arrival of the ship with the newest locomotives. It arrived half an hour later and was docked with a very grumpy face, "why oh why do we have to keep bringing more of your scrap metal over here, instead of just leaving them where they lay?"

The three steam locomotives said nothing to the ship, and instead watched the operation. Jack was lifted out first, then Jessica came out and finally came Ace. They looked all around them at their surrondings, and up to the sky.

"The yards look nice," said Jack, "though those clouds don't."

There was a chuckle from nearby, "yeah snow is going to be a problem," said Robert as he walked up to the trio. "Having been here a few years, I know it's going to be a challenge, but you'll discover that in due time. I am Robert, the manager and owner of the Freedom Railroad. Welcome 3808, 4458 and 1217."

"Thank you Robert," said Ace. "Oh and I'm known as Ace, 4458 is Jessica and 1217 is Jack."

Robert looked to Kelly and Albert as they got off the boat, "named them already?" Both nodded nervously. "Well thanks for doing that, cause I was drawing a blank of what to name them. Now, we'll just have Mr Mason come over and determine who should be restored first."

"Uh Robert Sir," called Jessica, "we would like you to restore Jack first. He's endoured quite a bit since he arrived at the scrap yard, so he should get the honor of running first, and leave us to later."

Robert nodded, "Well if that's how you feel about it, then that's what we'll do. But the workshops can allow for two locomotives to be in there. So who else wishes to join Jack?"

Jessica wasn't sure, but Ace did, "take Jessica in, I don't mind waiting."

"Are you sure?" Jessica asked in surprise.

"I'm sure my friend. I don't mind waiting in, I'm assuming the sheds?" he said looking to Robert. Robert nodded his head, "I can wait in there until my time arrives."

"Very well then, guess that'll make the decision easier," said Robert. "Very well, Jack and Jessica, you're first for restoration, then Ace will get his turn." He turned to Kelly and Albert, "as for you two, thank you for bringing them here. Now go home and enjoy your rest, you won't be going back until the snow is gone."

"Thank you Robert, but first I need to speak with Mr Willits," said Kelly, and she walked away with her son.

Rebecca backed up, allowing her to couple up to Jack. Warren next coupled up to Jessica, who smiled happily at Ace. Once the two engines were taken away, Andrea coupled up to Ace and towed him to the sheds. Although apart for now, the Southern Pacific's finest were safe and looking forward to future operations in their new home.

 _ **The End!**_

 _Well fans, we've come to the end of another book, and what an interesting book this turned out to be. I can only apologize one more time for making you wait two additional months for this one's release, hopefully Book 6 will get out sometime in October as I'm already working away on it right now. A special thank you goes out to **Noahjacksich**_ _for SP 1217, now known as Jack, and of course special thank yous go out to you the loyal readers for checking this series out and leaving your comments on it. And in case you guys are wondering, yes there are pictures coming out for these locos on DeviantART, just keep your eyes open on my channel and you'll find them. Also, another thank you goes out for all the locomotive suggestions, they are fine machines for sure and they will make it into the series at some point in the future. Till then, as a reminder, the next two volumes will focus on winter operations on the Island, which means no new locomotives will arrive till Book 8, but don't worry, there are still plenty of new faces to meet as time goes on. Anyhow, thanks again for reading and I'll see you all soon with the next volume._


	21. Book 6 Story 1-For Pete's Sake

Well, this took longer than expected. But in the time period between the fifth book and this book, I got a job, I ended doing more jobs in and around my house, winter came in and well, you get the idea if you look at my DeviantART page or check out my videos on youtube, they explain everything. Anyways, today I am finally proud to present the first story of Book 6 for the Railroad Stories, this time focusing on Andrea the former Nickel Plate Berkshire. A Berkshire, in case you're not aware of what it is, is a 2-8-4 steam locomotive. There are several survivors of her class, including the famous 765 and recently seen on the mainline; 757. They are impressive engines, and unlike many of the locomotives shown in this series, I have seen one of these locos in real life, though it's been a few years and she was static. It was 759 in Scranton in case you're wondering. Anyhow, many of the stories in this book are based on real life events, some more shocking than the last, but that's all I will say for now as I want you all to be surprised by what's coming out. Lastly, before we begin, I do wish to point out that this book, along with the upcoming Book 7 will feature no new locomotives for the railroads or museum, but I can still accept locomotive suggestions, as long as they are engines that are sadly not around today. Now with all that said, onto the stories! :)

 _ **The Railroad Stories Book 6**_

 _ **Andrea the Wintertime Engine**_

 _ **Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Greetings Readers,

 _A couple of books back, you were introduced to the Freedom Railroad's fifth locomotive; Andrea the Nickel Plate Berkshire. She is quite a cheerful tender engine, and quite a hard worker, though according to the other engines, the best time of year to see her true might and strength is during the winter, and that was especially true in the winter of 1956 before 1957 began. After hearing her stories, I told Andrea I would write a book about her, but she said she'd be sad if I didn't include the story of her firewoman; Vanessa. And so, I have included it in here, and I hope you'll enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed hearing about them._

The Author

 **Tales Included:**

-For Pete's Sake

-Vanessa the Hero

-Slippery Conditions

-White-Out

 _ **For Pete's Sake**_

The next morning, Andrea opened her sleepy eyes and made the biggest gasping noise anyone had ever heard, "oh my goodness, it's snowed and the ground is completely covered!" she cried.

Andrew groaned as he woke up, "scream a little louder why don't you? I can still hear things," he said sarcastically.

Carrie's eyes came into focus after her sleep and she too gasped, "by the Canadian Pacific, there must be a foot of snow out there."

Sure enough, as the other locomotives opened their eyes and looked at the scenery outside, they could see well over a foot of snow on the ground. It covered everything from buildings to coaches and even the tracks. The only things that didn't seem to be covered in snow were three figures heading for the sheds, all decked out in heavy duty winter clothes.

The shed door opened and the three people walked in, shivering a bit. The first of the trio was the manager; Robert, "I've been living on this island for a few years now, but not even I have gotten used to the cold temperatures here." The other two people were Andrea's own crew; Vanessa and Mandy. They walked over towards their engine and within minutes, Andrea could feel her boiler getting warm.

"As you all can see, those clouds from the night before have dropped a ton of snow everywhere, so before any work can be done, the tracks need to be cleared. Andrea, you will be taking Pete and the workers to clear them."

"As you wish Robert, it'll be easy-peasy," Andrea said in her chirpy voice.

Carrie raised an eyebrow though at the mention of the name 'Pete', "excuse me Robert, but did you say Pete? As in Pete the Rotary Snowplow?"

"Yes I did, you know him?"

Carrie groaned, "oh I knew him alright, any engine who worked on the Canadian Pacific knew him. He was one of the rudest pieces to ever roll down the tracks, and always thought of himself as a king. Every locomotive dreaded taking him out on their runs, and given a choice, we'd stay in the yards and shunt freight cars than to take him out."

"You shunt? I find that hard to believe," chuckled Rebecca.

Carrie gave a smug look to Rebecca, "yes Rebecca, even Royal Hudsons shunted from time to time, especially when it came to Pete. Though last I heard, he disappeared after 1947."

"He did," replied Robert, "he sat for many years in a scrap yard until we found him after Warren arrived. We had him restored for days like this, and regardless of what he's like, Andrea will take him out, otherwise work will become very difficult for us, and we wouldn't want that now would we?"

"I guess not," sighed Carrie. She looked to Andrea, "you take care around him."

"Don't worry your pretty little wheels Carrie, Andrea has got it all under control, you wait and see."

Once the steam pressure was at the correct level, the shed doors were opened, with much difficulty, and Andrea puffed out of the sheds into the cold world outside.

"I have six foot wheels, not little wheels," muttered Carrie.

In the yards, Andrea found the Rotary Snowplow waiting for her. He was painted in black with the blade being in red, and like many snowplows, had the cab high above the blade, making him taller than she was. Mr Ingram and other workers were busy working on the plow, getting him ready for the rough journeys ahead. He also had a scowl on his face, all the while proving Carrie correct about the poor attitude.

Still, she puffed up next to him and introduced herself, "hello there Pete, I'm Andrea and I'll be your engine for today. And these are my crew members, Vanessa the fireman and Mandy the engineer."

"Yeah fine, nice to meet you, now collect your coach and get coupled up. Also, keep quiet as you push me, I don't need headaches from all of your chatter."

"Kind of a rude fella ain't he?" Vanessa said to Mandy.

"He sure is, still we do have a job to do, so let's push past his attitude and get to work. After all, the whole railroad is counting on us to clear the tracks, and we can't let them down."

Andrea was quick to agree and once she had a coach for the workmen to ride in, and to carry any equipment they needed, she coupled up to Pete. He snorted as the couplings connected, "you're one of the weakest engines I've ever met."

"And what do you mean by that?" Andrea asked, feeling a little hurt.

"Many of the locomotives who've taken me out over the years have given me a firece coupling, yours was gentle, which means you're weak. Thank goodness you're behind me, at least then people won't see you that well. Me on the other hand, they'll see a masterpiece of perfection."

"And boastful to boot as well," grumbled Mandy.

Mr Ingram climbed into the cab to speak with the crew, "it might be best if you ladies keep one window open," he said, "the snow hitting the boiler will turn this cab into a turkish bath."

"Thanks for the tip Mr Ingram," said Vanessa, "got any more?"

"Yeah, pay no attention to old loud mouth up front, he's all bark and no show. Let's just get the job done, and be rid of him for a while," and with that, he climbed out of the cab.

Once everyone was on board, the job began. They first cleared the yards, then the docks and around the big station. Next they charged onwards towards the main line.

As she puffed along with Pete in front of her, Andrea found the job to be difficult. While some parts of the line had light snow on them, other parts were covered completely, and the workers had to get out to clear the line. To make matters worse, Pete grumbled about the speed of the workers.

"Those on the Canadian Pacific were faster than you slow pokes, now hurry your sorry butts along!" he snapped.

"Hey, we're working as fast as we can," snapped a worker. "Besides, if we didn't do this, you could bend your blade or worse."

"Oh please, nothing can hurt a fine machine like myself," he boasted proudly, "now shut up and get back to work."

The worker stared at the snowplow, looking like he was going to throw the shovel at him, but Mr Ingram stepped between them and pulled the worker aside, telling him not to bother with the plow.

Nearby on the road, a small tow truck arrived on the scene to rescue a car that had been left behind the night before. He wasn't like most machines as he had glasses in front of his eyes, but he did look friendly.

"Hello there, snow troubles over there?" the tow truck called.

"No, just clearing the line and making sure Pete doesn't get..."

"I said shut up!" snapped Pete, then went quiet.

The two truck tisked, "some machines, it's a wonder they keep going with the way they act. Why, this plow is just as bad as those McKenna trucks, if not worse."

Andrea raised an eyebrow at this, "do you work for the McKenna truck company?"

"Heavens no, I could never work for a low down bunch of crooks, it would go aganist everything I represent today. Heck, they try to run _me_ off the road for getting in their way, but I ignore them and carry on, remembering one important fact."

"And what's that?"

"They'll soon fall into trouble, and it'll be me who has the last word."

Andrea smiled, she really like this tow truck. She watched as he backed into position to begin his job, then watched as his operator got out to start the winch, "name's Bryce by the way, what's your name?"

"Andrea."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Andrea..."

The Operator coughed, "and what about me eh? Keep forgetting that I'm here?"

Bryce rolled his eyes, "oh sorry, sometimes I do that," he chuckled, "and this is my operator; Jesse. We make quite the cracking team, he and I." The winches started up, and with a bit of straining, the car came out from under the snow.

"Right, that's that done, we must be off old boy."

"Oh please, I'm not that old," Bryce chuckled. He looked back to Andrea, "I wish I could stay and chat, but the owner would really like to have his car back, but if you're ever in need of our services, be sure to call out for us." And with that, he revved his engine and rattled away.

"Yeah right, like we'd ever need the help of a half-pint like him," snorted Pete.

Andrea was now starting to understand why many of the Canadian Pacific engines never liked working with Pete.

The rest of the journey didn't fare much better. Pete complained about everything, he shouted at anyone nearby, and he continued his boasting streak. There were even a couple of times he would bump Andrea as his way of telling her to speed up. This was getting her annoyed with him, which made her lose her smile.

They were soon nearing Big Jim's Town. Andrea was relieved, until she heard a horn from Pete, and she felt herself slowing down.

"What's going on? Why are we stopping?" she asked.

"I don't know," answered Mandy, "Mr Ingram will tell us soon enough."

And indeed he did after climbing out of the cab of Pete. He walked over towards Andrea's own cab, "there's a really thick snowbank up ahead. I'd dare not risk sending Pete and Andrea through this stuff, it's better to get out and start clearing the line by hand."

But Pete would have none of that, "that's a waste of time, just charge through it and be done with it."

"Hey, if Mr Ingram says it's too thick, then it's too thick," snapped Mandy from the cab, "we can't risk damaging you and putting you out of action for the entire winter season."

"You seem to forget little girl, I'm built for handling snowdrifts higher than this, so stop fussing and get on with it."

The door on the right side opened, and Andrea could see all the workers inside climb out and walk away from Pete.

"No way we're going through that in old loud mouth there."

"Pah! You're all being scaredy cats, we'll show you. Now 772, push me with some real effort, and not the fake effort you've been giving me all day."

"Fake effort?!" snapped Andrea, "why you little!"

Mr Ingram sighed and looked up to the crew, "back up and attack the drift, but be prepared just in case."

The two women nodded and backed the snow fighting train. Andrea was now seething from Pete's comments, so as soon as she started, she pushed with all her might.

"You're still faking the effort," snorted Pete.

"Calm down girl!" cried Mandy.

But it was too late, they were charging at the snowdrift at 60 Kilometres per hour, and nothing would stop Andrea from shutting Pete up. Mandy looked to Vanessa, "brace yourself."

She did, and Mandy held on for dear life.

One moment, they were all on the tracks, and in the next, Pete went upwards, followed by Andrea as the snowdrift acted more like a ramp. Andrea stopped with her front end touching the top of the snowbank, but Pete wasn't so lucky as he went flying and landed with a dull thud on the drift. Mr Ingram and the workers could only stare in horror at the scene.

"Come on everyone! We got to help Mandy and Vanessa!" cried Mr Ingram once he regained focus.

When they reached the cab, they found that Vanessa was in the coal tender while Mandy was still in her seat with only a small sprain in her right hand. They were helped out of the cab, and the fire was dumped.

"Well now, this is unexpected," groaned Vanessa, "I thought trains couldn't fly, but ours did."

Mr Ingram walked over with a shovel and tried to punch through the snow, "it's solid ice, that's why Pete and Andrea couldn't go through it. Added with the speed, it was bound to act more like a ramp." He looked at the scene and shook his head, "we'll have to phone Robert and ask for the cranes."

But he had no need to do that as they heard a honking sound from the road. It was Bryce, "dang, what happened here then?" he asked.

They told him everything. "Do you think you could help us out?" asked one of the workers.

"With some help from my crew, I think we can handle that."

So Jesse called for help and soon enough, five other tow trucks arrived on the scene. They started by pulling the coach away, then went for Andrea. They all had their ropes attached to the big Berkshire, then on Bryce's call of; "Ready, pull like you're being paid for it!" They tugged away. Their wheels slipped on the snow and ice, but soon got their grip and before long, they had Andrea back on the rails again.

"Thank you Bryce, I owe you one," smiled Andrea.

"Think nothing of it, it's what we do at the Rescue Tow Company." He then looked towards the snowplow, "him on the other hand, that might be a bit much for us."

Mr Ingram had thought of that himself, which was why before the trucks went to work, he called Robert on the radio and asked for the crane. It soon appeared on the scene with Andrew.

He said nothing as the cranes lifted Pete off the snowbank until all his wheels were firmly back on the rails. Only once that was done that Andrew spoke, "when Carrie said to be careful around him, I'm not sure she meant be careful not to make him go flying over a snowbank."

Andrea was embarrassed by this. The workers and Mr Ingram checked on Pete, and soon found he was fit to work, and once they had removed the ice and snow bank in front of them, they continued on with no further troubles.

When Andrea came back to the sheds, she found Robert waiting for her.

"I'm sorry about what happened Robert, I just lost my temper and..."

"It's perfectly fine Andrea, I can understand why this happened, Pete is quite a rude plow. Just promise me you won't ever do that again, and I'll let you off with a warning this time, okay?" Andrea promised to be as good as gold in future.

As for Pete, well the crash did some good as from that moment onwards, he never made a comment about fake performances, especially whenever he saw Andrea anywhere nearby.

 _As crazyas it might sound, this story is actually based on a real life snowplow accident where a set of Canadian National diesels and their snowplow went flying upwards when they bashed into a snowbank that acted more like a ramp. The tow trucks rescuing Andrea was purely fictional._


	22. Book 6 Story 2-Vanessa the Hero

_**Vanessa the Hero**_

As dangerous as street running is, there is one thing engines have to worry about more than anything, and that is the farm areas in between each town. It is here they find lots of families, and families of course mean children. Some children are cautious and watch from the safety of the fence area, far off from the tracks. Others are not, and the engines often had to scare them away to prevent serious injuries.

It was night-time and many of the locomotives were settling down for the night. The only one not there was Andrew. Andrea was about to ask how far off anyone thought he was, when they heard his whistle in the distance.

"Near the farms before the big station," Carrie said as she listened, "but why is he blowing it for a long time? He only needs a few blows."

It was thirty minutes later that the locomotives and crews got their answer, "as if the dark of night and snow weren't bad enough, we have to deal with kids playing near the tracks," Andrew grumbled as he stopped on the turntable.

"Kids playing near the tracks?!" Rebecca was in shock like she couldn't believe what she heard, "are you sure it was children and not an animal?"

"If it's small and walks on only two legs, then it's a child, or a really short person. Either way, they were so close that we had to whistle to them to get away from us."

"They were mere inches away from us," added Brock the engineer. "We could hear the child crying afterwords, hopefully they'll learn to stay away from the tracks in future."

"More likely you've given them a fear of trains," said Niki from Rebecca's cab.

"Why do they play near the tracks anyways?" Andrea asked. "Don't they know it's dangerous?"

"They might not think it's dangerous to be near the tracks," said Ace. "Even on the Southern Pacific, we had several cases like that with children, teenagers or even adults playing near the tracks. None fatal thank goodness, but it just goes to show you that you need to remind them that it's dangerous to be that close to the tracks, even if it means scaring them."

"I sure hope the parents don't get mad at you for scaring their child," Andrea said to Andrew.

Andrew was about to speak when another voice spoke, "not in the slightest." Everyone looked and saw Robert coming over, "I just got a call from the parents of that child, and they apologize for what happened. They say they'll never let him out after dark unless he's being watched."

Andrew groaned, "you got to be kidding me, that child wasn't being watched by his parents? Now that's just plain stupid if you ask me."

"I couldn't have said it better myself Andrew, I even said something similar to that to them. Hopefully they'll pay attention in future, but it depends on them and their children."

"Or anyone else," added Michael the fireman.

The next morning, Andrea was at the transfer yard with the Little Haulers line. Crews were unloading her cars, and sitting nearby with her freight train was Alison.

"Good thing I'm used to this kind of weather," she said, "otherwise I'd be complaning badly."

"You complain? No," said John the Engineer with sarcasm in his voice.

Alison grunted in response to that. Andrea would've chuckled over that when she noticed children, no more than six years old walking along one of the rails heading into the distance.

"Uh Alison, do you allow kids to walk on your rails?" she asked and directed Alison to look ahead.

"No of course not, why...oh for Heaven's sake, not these silly kids again. Hey! Off the Tracks!" John pulled the whistle chain and the children went running away, screaming the entire time. "Little tykes, when are they ever going to learn?"

"Do all children do that in Big Jim's town?"

"Nope," Alison answered, "many are good, and don't stand near the tracks, then there's these little fools. I've met them before, they like to walk along the rails to practise their balance. Why they need that I don't know."

Vanessa the fireman sighed, "first Andrew's encounter, now this. Kids need to be trained on safety near railroads."

"And how would they do that?" Alison asked, overhearing the fireman, "through an operation stop playing near the tracks?"

"More like a lifesaver to me, cause it would be saving lives." She sighed unhappily, "but who knows when that will be happening, or if people will actually want to listen to safety lessons near railroads."

In between McKenna and McGinnis, there is a series of homes belonging to many families. These homes had big front and back yards, but none had fences. The people there thought they never needed them as traffic wasn't too bad, plus although their homes were near the Freedom Railroad, there was a small forest between the road and railroad. The forest for many parents was the barrier, and they always told their kids never to go in there or beyond. Normally kids there listened, but not today.

One year old Ronald and three year old Mark were playing in the front yard after coming home with their mother from the grocery store. The mother was inside emptying the bags while their father was at work. It was nothing out of the ordinary in this neighbourhood, but today the kids decided to play in a new area. In the forest leading up to the railroad.

They walked away, going at their slow pace and with toys in hands like cars.

Meanwhile, Andrea was on her way back to the main yards. She was due to take another load, this time going for McKenna. She was going at no more than 40 km/per hour, which would prove to be a blessing later.

As she got closer to the neighbourhood after McKenna, Mandy noticed something, "is there something on the tracks?"

Vanessa moved over to the side of the cab and looked, "yeah there is, and it's moving."

Up ahead were Ronald and Mark, playing with their toy cars on the smooth steel rails. As they played, they were not aware of the Berkshire. Mandy went for the brakes and pulled the whistle chain. As she did this, Vanessa climbed down the ladder and shouted out; "get away from the tracks!" at the top of her lungs.

At her home, the mother of the two boys heard the whistle and right away knew, there was trouble. She ran outside, only to find her boys were nowhere in the snow covered front yard, but that wasn't all, she could see tracks in the forest and heading for the railroad.

"Oh no!" she cried. "Boys! Get away from the tracks!"

Despite the whistling and shouting though, the young boys didn't seem to notice.

"We're not going to stop in time!" cried Andrea. Even with an empty train, it would take her a while to stop.

Vanessa could see that too, and taking the biggest chance she could, she jumped down from the ladder and started running towards the boys. Andrea had slowed, but was at the same pace as Vanessa.

When all hope seemed lost though, Vanessa suddenly sped up and ran to the boys, pulling them away from the rails, but they were still close, "get your heads down!" she cried.

There was a thud, poor Andrea had her eyes shut, groaning and getting ready to cry. She continued on for a short distance before the train finally groaned to a stop.

Mandy climbed down from the cab and ran back along the line, "Vanessa! Are you alright!"

There came a call, "Call Robert and get paramedics out here!" she cried, "the boys are alright, but one's injuried!"

Mandy didn't need telling twice, she ran back into the cab, grabbd the radio and called Robert in the yards.

" _WHAT?!"_ came the cry on the other end, " _what's that you say? A boy was hit by Andrea?!"_

 _"_ Correct Robert, we need help out here fast!"

The mother of the boys came running over and gasped. While her oldest was fine, the youngest had been banged on the back of the head by Andrea's plow, and had some cuts from being moved along the ballast.

"My baby!" cried the mother.

"Don't just stand there, call for help!" shouted Vanessa.

Like Mandy, the mother didn't waste any time as she hurried back to the house. All Andrea could do was worry as she could hear the baby's crying. Not a single word came from her. Vanessa tried to comfort the child, "it's okay little one, help is on the way." She didn't even think about scolding the boys. Right now wasn't the time.

Less than a couple minutes later, paramedics arrived and so did the boy's father. He was in shock, even the paramedics were surprised, "this little guy sure is lucky," one said.

They took the child from Vanessa and tended to the injuries, then with the parents and older brother walking beside them, they went back through the forest and towards the ambulance.

That night, Andrea couldn't sleep. All she could keep thinking about was the young boy, and hoped he would be alright. She knew from past stories that people who were hit by trains never survived, no matter what speed they were going at. She actually cried some tears in the night.

A few days later, she got a wonderful surprise. The young family had arrived with Robert, and in the mother's arms with a cast on his head was young Ronald.

"Your son's okay," Andrea finally said, breaking several days of silence.

"Indeed he is, he's quite lucky, thanks to your fireman," said the mother. "I am truely sorry if we scared you that badly. This was my fault for not keeping the boys inside."

"Well hopefully you'll have learned from this experience," said Robert firmly, "and more importantly, I hope Ronald will never play on tracks ever again."

"We'll certainly make sure of that," said the father.

When the parents saw Vanessa, they both gave her a hug and thanked her for what she did, "we know you put yourself in danger, but we're grateful for it," said the mother. "We'd like to thank you by inviting you to dinner tonight, are you free?"

"I am, but I can't except. I'd do it again for anyone."

But the family wouldn't take no for an answer, they wanted to thank their hero, so in the end she agreed to join the family for dinner. Vanessa happily admitted that it was delicious.

After that day though, the family sort of adopted her into their family, calling her the oldest daughter. Whenever she could, she would spend time with the family like playing snowball fights or building snowman. The two boys grew to like Vanessa, and much to everyone's surprise, they still liked the engines of the Freedom Railroad. Though from that day to this, the boys never ventured beyond their yard ever again.

But even though they learned that lesson, the Freedom Railroad's engines and crews had to keep an eye open on the area to make sure no one was near their line. Meanwhile, Robert sat in his office thinking, _"something must be done about teaching people about the dangers of railroads."_ He picked up a phone and made a call to the school in McKenna, " _I'm sorry to bother you, but I'd like to ask, do you have time in your schedule next year for something helpful?"_

 _This story is actually based on an unbelivable real event where two boys, less than four years old escaped their front yard, went through a small forest and played on the train tracks as a freight train was coming towards them. In the real event, the conductor got off the train and pulled the boys away, but the youngest still got hit by the front plow, but like Ronald, survived with a bump on the head and bloody nose._


	23. Book 6 Story 3-Slippery Conditions

_**Slippery Conditions**_

As the winter season progressed, more snow came down on the entire Island. Sometimes it was light stuff, other times it would come down hard and fast, and while the railroads could handle it, the automobiles were struggling. Snow always meant slippery conditions, and unless drivers were focused, it could result in sliding off the road or worse.

One bright sunny morning, Andrea was at the junction for the Little Haulers. She and her crew were dropping off supplies for Big Jim's Town and beyond. As the workers unloaded her cars, she, her crew and Alison saw something scary. One of the McKenna Truck company's trucks was sliding on the road and heading for Andrea. Luckily, the Driver was able to gain control and stop the truck from smashing into Andrea.

"Hey, you over sized excuse for a car," snapped Alison. "Why don't you watch where you're going?! And for God's sake, slow down!"

The truck gave a nasty grump, "pah, there's nothing to be afraid about, it's just harmless white flakes on the road."

"Didn't look harmless to me," groaned Andrea. "You nearly hit us."

"Oh well that's because I have a new driver, the little pest, he just needs more skill and _I'll_ be fine." The truck then gave off a smirk, "though if I did hit you, it'd mean less compitation for us."

The truck was backed away, then drove off, laughing as he did.

Alison watched with angry eyes, "bird-brain," she muttered.

That evening, as she was being backed into her stall, Andrea told the other locos about the truck. Four of the five other engines didn't look surprised.

"Those guys at the truck company are always troublesome," grumbled Andrew. "After all, it was them that caused Carrie's log cars to roll down the line. Not to mention from the first work day, I've seen how reckless they drive around. You're lucky they never hit you."

"But surely, a proper company knows how to work safely," said Ace the AC-9.

"That's just it, they're not a proper company," said Rebecca with a huff. "They do things we don't."

"Like what?" Andrea asked curiously.

"Taking illegal goods to sell on something called 'The Black Market', not to mention some of their costumers are criminals, which means when they're out and about, it's never a good thing. Added with their disregard for safety, they are a company that spells one thing; trouble."

"Your best bet is to keep a good look out and be prepared for the unexpected," Andrew advised Andrea and Ace.

Carrie looked outside the window of her stall's door, "I can tell you of one thing we can expect; more snow." Even in the dim light of day, the locomotives and crews could see more snow clouds rolling in. "It's certain to make things slippery for everyone tomorrow."

She was sadly correct as Andrea and her crew found out while on another delivery the next morning. As they looked to the roads, they saw either drivers losing control, or have lost control.

"Fourteen cars in the ditch," Mandy called out from her seat.

"Correction; you better make that fifteen cars in the ditch, I just saw another one spin out," said Vanessa.

Sure enough, there was indeed another car in the ditch, but it could only be spotted from the fireman's window. Also seen from that window was Bryce the Tow truck driving down the road. He looked tired.

"There's another car off the road back there," Andrea called to Bryce.

Bryce groaned, "gosh darn it, that makes twenty cars I've rescued in one day." But he still went to help. As he came up on the scene, he was nearly pushed into the ditch by a speeding McKenna truck.

"Out of the way short stack!" the Truck shouted rudely. "I have a delivery to make and it can not be late!"

Bryce groaned as he came to a stop, "over zealous fool. Karma will get him yet."

And it would, much later in the day.

The snowfall became heavier as the day progressed. It got so bad that cars, buses and trucks slowed to a crawl. But not the McKenna truck from before, he was speeding along with a fully loaded trailer, much to his new Driver's dismay.

"This will be a stick in the eye to that Freedom Railroad," he chuckled to himself. But he wouldn't be laughing for long.

Up ahead were tonnes of vehicles full of people making their way to where they needed to go. The truck thought little of the traffic, much like anything else, and increased the speed. Suddenly without warning, truck and trailer started sliding sideways. They jack-knived and before the Driver could say anything, there came some loud crashing metal aganist metal sounds, followed by some bangs from behind. Then silence filled the area.

The truck driver groaned and rubbed his head, "mother was right, I should never have gotten into trucking."

"Never mind your mother, just get me out of this mess ya idiot," snapped the truck. "We can't keep our costumers waiting."

"I don't think we'll be going anywhere anytime soon."

The truck raised an angry eyebrow, "care to explain what you meant by disobeying _my_ orders?"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're stuck in a pile-up, not to mention, judging from what I can see back there, we're smashed into the trailer." The Driver was indeed correct, they had smashed into the trailer on the left side when they jack-knived, creating a small hole within it.

Suddenly, they heard a loud whistle in the distance.

"Please tell me that was someone's lunch whistle," groaned the truck.

The Driver looked down from the window, gasped and looked into the distance, "nope, that is a train."

"And what was that gasp for?"

"We're on their tracks."

Andrea was puffing back to the yards with empty cars, and as she came into the town of McGinnis, she spotted the pile-up of vehicles.

"Stop! Stop!"she cried.

Luckily, Mandy had seen the mess and slowed Andrea to a gentle stop, leaving a foot of space between herself and the pile-up. She could not believe what she was seeing, and neither could Bryce as he came on the scene. Then he saw the McKenna truck.

"I should've guessed you'd be in the middle of this mess," he grumbled. "You McKenna trucks never learn one bit."

"Oh how very drool, now get me out of this mess."

"First I have to deal with everyone else, though you are a different story as you're too big for me to move, and the bigger trucks are on the other side of the island with their own emergencies."

Andrea overheard and chimed in, "excuse me Bryce, but maybe we can help."

"Unless you have a rotating arm in that tender of yours, I don't see how you can help."

"It's easy, once you move the smaller vehicles out of the way, we can tow the McKenna truck out of the way for you."

The truck looked horrified, "forget it, I won't..."

Bryce stared angerily at the truck, "oh shut it you, you caused enough trouble for one day." He looked back to Andrea, "if you think you can move loud mouth here, then I'll gladly welcome any help."

And so it was arranged, and after getting permission from Robert, they set to work. Bryce started by moving cars and pick-ups, while emergency personal arrived to tend to injuries. Then it was Andea's turn. She was moved into postion, and with help from the annoyed truck driver, Vanessa got the truck hooked up to Andrea.

"Rescued by a steam locomotive," grumbled the truck. "The others are never going to let me hear the end of this."

Vanessa ignored him and called out to Mandy, "all set, ready to pull!"

This was met with a blast of the whistle, and Andrea slowly moved, pulling on the chain. It straightened out and the truck moved, but at first, was being dragged sideways and still stuck to the trailer.

"Maybe one good yank will do it," said Mandy and opened the reverser more. There came a loud bang, followed by loud cheering. Mandy called out; "did it work?"

"It sure did!" called Bryce. "He's free, now towing will be easy for you."

And it was. Andrea pulled the truck out of the way and towards a side street, where the poilice were waiting for them as they wanted to know how this accident occured. The driver told them of the speeding the truck did when they shouldn't have, and all because of his cargo. Curious, the police checked the manifest inside the trailer, and when they did, they arrested the Driver and had the truck driven to the impound lot.

Late that evening, as Andrea was having her tender filled up, she recieved a surprise visitor in the form of Bryce.

"We just came by to say 'thank-you' for the help eariler," he said to her. "We would still be in McGinnis cleaning up that pile-up if you and your crew hadn't help out."

"Oh well, we were just returning the favour for what you did when I went off with Old Pete," smiled Andrea. "Those McKenna trucks might be a bunch of meanies, but with machines and people like us, we can show that road and rail can work perfectly together."

"A little bit on the sugary side, but I'd have to agree with you on that one," said Mandy, and so did everyone else there.

But what about the truck driver? Well he served a bit of time in jail, but he and his truck weren't alone to get in trouble with the police, as they soon went after the truck company for reckless endangerment, going above the speed limit, not to mention carrying illegal cargo. Needless to say, more than a few people were arrested after this incident. Though after that day, the driver decided to leave the McKenna truck company and go off to find something better. One can only guess what that will be.

 _This story was inspired by a shocking video from 2017 where in bad winter conditions, a tractor trailer jack-knived and smashed into cars, trucks and any vehicles in it's way. There were injuries involved, but thankfully, none were severe._


	24. Book 6 Story 4-White-Out

Well readers, we come to the end of another book. I'll admit 2019 hasn't been off to a good start when it comes to writing stories, but hopefully as the rest of the year progresses, you'll be able to see more stories on this channel, including more tales from the Railroad Stories. Plans for Book 7 are being thought up right now, then once that is done, it's onto your requests for locos to appear in this series. Now with that being said, this story was actually inspired by some of my own experiences in white-out conditions, though thankfully I've never ended up in a ditch. Come close, but I have gone into one. One final note here before the story begins, I wish to say that Andrea and 773's real life sister; 757 has left Strasburg and has been moved to a new location. If you get the chance, visit the locomotive, because even static, it's a wonderful sight to see.

 _ **White-Out**_

"I have some good news, but I also happen to have bad news," Robert said to the engines and crews in the sheds. "First is the good news, there are no more blizzards coming for the next month."

"And what's the bad news?" Rebecca asked curiously.

Robert sighed unhappily before he answered Rebecca's question, "the bad news is that it's going to be getting colder, with chances of blowing wind, and I'm sure you all know what that means."

"White-outs," they groaned in unison.

Nobody likes White-outs as it's during this time when winds pick up the loose snowflakes and make them float everywhere, and in those situations, it can block a person or engine's view for either a short or long period of time. It is an accident waiting to happen.

"Indeed it will be," nodded Robert. "Just remember to be extra careful out there, and remember your surrondings." Then he left for home.

Andrew groaned as he looked outside, "White-outs are worse than blizzards. Once on the New York Central, one of my smaller cousins ran past a red signal and nearly hit the tail end of a freight train. She just managed to stop before that happened though."

"Lucky her, though one of my siblings wasn't so lucky," said Rebecca. "She got blinded by a white-out in Northern Ontario, and hit a rock that came off the hillside." Hearing this, the other engines and their crews gasped. "Her plow was damaged and so were her front wheels, but she and her crew were alright, and she was soon repaired and put back into service."

Carrie sighed in relief, "That's good to know, still we better follow Robert's advice. It might be the only thing between life and death."

"Mind never saying that word again," groaned Vanessa. It seemed that following the incident with the children on the line, whenever she heard that word, she would get a little sick.

"Opps, sorry Vanessa."

The next morning, the engines awoke to the howling sounds of heavy winds blowing outside. None of them wanted to go outside, but the freight and passengers needed them, so they swallowed up their nervousness and went out into the freezing cold.

For her first run of the day, Andrea was to take a passenger train. Mandy was surprised by the large number of passengers on the platform.

"It's not really a surprise," said Vanessa as she looked back to the platform. "Why take a car when you can ride in safe warm comfort?"

"Yeah you got a point there," Mandy nodded.

Though the coaches weren't too pleased, "passengers we're okay with, and we're slowly getting used to what this railroad has to offer in motive power, but the snow is another matter," grumbled the first coach, which came from the Northern Pacific.

"To think, these people are inside us, staying as warm as toast, while we freeze away, it's not fair," added the second coach, which came from the Union Pacific.

Carrie overheard them as she was shunting cars nearby, "well if you coaches want to remain warm, we can always arrange with Robert and Mr Willits to have you transferred into the museum in McKenna, then you'll never have to worry about the cold again. But then again," she added with a smirk, "you'll never run again either."

That shut the coaches up good and proper.

Carrie chuckled as she looked to Andrea, "sometimes you need to scare them," she whispered. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew and several barrels nearby went flying and crashing to the ground. "By the Canadian Pacific, this wind is really getting strong. Be careful out there Andrea."

"I'll try my best," smiled the cheerful tender engine.

Once all the passengers were on board, Andrea puffed out of the main station and onto the main line.

Meanwhile, leaving the town of Shannon, a bus full of passengers was making it's way along the road. The roads were mostly clear, but as the winds blew, it picked up snow from the nearby snow mounds and blew it towards the road. The bus' wheels slipped on the road.

"Whoa! Careful Driver, we don't want to get anyone sick!" cried the bus.

"I can't help it," called the Driver, "it's the snow, it's making the roads slippery."

To prevent any more sliding, the bus driver slowed his bus down. However, the wheels still spun and the poor bus driver had to readjust the steering wheel to keep from sliding off the road.

" _Wish I had called in sick,"_ the Driver thought to himself.

They struggled on for a quarter of a mile before it happened. One moment, the Driver and bus had a good view of where they were going, then in the next, they were blinded in a white out.

"I can't see!" cried the Driver.

"I can't either," called the bus. "STOP! STOP!"

The Driver put on the brakes and tried to steer to a safe spot on the side of the road, but instead the bus skidded and went smacking into a ditch. Many of the passengers bumped into the seats in front of them.

"Ooh, my head," groaned the Driver. He got up from his seat and went back to the passengers, "sorry everyone, are you all alright?"

They were, and thankfully the only injury was a bruise on a right arm. The Driver was relieved, but he wouldn't be for long. There came a cough and a splutter as the engine died out.

"Oh no!" cried the Driver, "the impact must've damaged the engine."

He climbed out of the bus and began working on the engine. As he did this, Andrea was nearing the town of Shannon. She was making good time, and had a clear view all the way, but she wouldn't for long. The winds picked up and blew the loose snowflakes into her face, as well as the windows for the cab. With their view blocked for a time being, Mandy slowed Andrea down to 30 km/per hour. It would prove to be a good choice.

The blowing snow stopped as they entered the town, and as it did, they could see flashing lights up ahead.

"I think they want us to stop!" Andrea called to her crew.

Mandy applied the brakes and they stopped to discover the flashing lights were from a police car.

"What seems to be the problem officer?" Vanessa called down from the cab.

"A bus has plowed into a ditch, and it's engine has broken down. Could you go help the passengers? When I found them, they were starting to get cold, who knows how bad they are now."

"Of course we'll help," smiled Andrea, "that's an engine's duty after all, helping people in any situation."

"Among other things, but that is the main one there," smiled Mandy. "We're on our way officer."

Whistle blowing to warn others, Andrea started off again, this time to the rescue. As they neared the edge of town, the wind picked up and the snow blew all around them, making it difficult to see. Andrea strained her eyes to see, but luckily, all Nickel Plate Berkshires came with something called a rotating mars light, which moves all about instead of pointing straight ahead like standard head-lamps. With this light, and her eyes open, Andrea soon saw an object near the line.

"Slow down, I found the bus!"

They slowed to a stop, where they were greeted with freezing passengers, "thank goodness you came along," they shivered, "we dreaded the idea of walking through this snow to get to where we want to go."

"Well we'll be glad to help, but we can only go to Big Jim's Town," advised Vanessa.

"That's fine," the passengers said, "it's better than nothing. Plus many of us needed to go there."

The conductor and many of the passengers on board helped the bus passengers on board, and after promising to get help for the bus, Andrea started off once more. The wind and snow blew aganist her once more, but she didn't give up and continued on down the line, passing through McGinnis, McKenna and finally puffing into Big Jim's Town.

"Thank you you wonderful engine," the passengers said thankfully, "your line is a wonderful one indeed. We'll be sure to tell all our friends to come and ride with you."

Andrea blushed, "I didn't do this alone you know, my crew were a big help too."

And so, the passengers thanked the crew too for their help before leaving to attend to business in Big Jim's town.

That evening, Andrea puffed back into her stall of the sheds, exhausted, but very happy. As she slowed to a stop, she discovered that Robert was there waiting for her.

"Well Andrea, I have to say that I am very impressed with you," he said. "You and that rotating mars light certainly came in handy during today's crazy white-outs."

"Indeed," agreed Rebecca, "if any one of us had been asked to look for that bus, we would've missed it. I wish I had a light like yours."

The other locomotives had to agree with Rebecca, which only made Andrea blush.

"The passengers all phoned me and said what a reliable locomotive you are, and I have to agree,"Robert continued, "I also have on good word that the bus has been rescued and will be back at work in a few days."

"That's good to know," sighed Andrea.

"I don't know if your designers had intended for this, but I can say for sure that you are a true wintertime engine. I am certainly glad we bought you for our fleet." And on that note, the locomotives whistled and everyone else cheered.

"Oh shucks, it was nothing really," Andrea smiled modestly.

And I'm happy to say that from that winter to this, Andrea continues to prove that she is without a shadow of a doubt, a wintertime engine.

 **The End!**


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